Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune is providing free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, sent to your inbox every morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.
Utah’s coronavirus case count Thursday remained below 200 for the fifth consecutive day, with a dozen fewer cases than the day before. The state has reported an average of 197 new cases over the past week.
The Utah Department of Health also reported two dozen more COVID-19 deaths, eight of which happened before Feb. 10. The Thursday tally bring the state’s pandemic death toll above 4,500.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 continues to fall, with 223 patients reported Thursday. That’s five fewer than Wednesday.
ICU beds across Utah are 66.6% filled, far below the 85% threshold that healthcare workers have said is needed to have enough rooms, equipment and staff available to treat new patients. Just under 12% of the state’s ICU patients are hospitalized because of COVID-19.
A UDOH analysis continues to show that booster shots significantly decrease Utahns’ chances of dying of COVID-19. Over the past four weeks:
• An unvaccinated person who contracts the virus is 16.2 times more likely to die than a fully vaccinated person, and 15 times more likely than a boosted person.
• An unvaccinated person who contracts the virus is 2.2 times more likely to be hospitalized than a fully vaccinated person, and 5.4 times more likely than a boosted person.
• An unvaccinated person is twice as likely to contract the virus than a fully vaccinated person, and 2.1 times more likely than a boosted person.
While state data show 61.2% of Utahns were fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, just 27.1% of all Utahns have received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Find where to get vaccinated at coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution. Find where to get tested at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-covid-19-testing-locations.
Breakdown of updated figures
Vaccine doses administered in the past day/total doses administered • 2,665 / 4,970,122.
Number of Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,990,197 — 61.2% of Utah’s total population. That is an increase of 717 in the past day.
Cases reported during the past day • 186.
Vaccination status • Health officials do not immediately have or release the vaccination status of individuals who test positive, who are hospitalized or who die. They do calculate the overall risk ratios of these outcomes depending on vaccination status, which is listed above.
Tests reported in the past day • A total of 6,609 people were tested.
Deaths reported in the past day • 24. Eight of these people died before Feb. 10.
Salt Lake and Utah counties each reported four deaths on Thursday. Salt Lake County reported that a male age 45-64 and two women and a man 85 or older died. In Utah County, a woman age 65-84 and two men and woman ages 65-84 died.
Three deaths were reported in Washington County: A woman age 65-84 and two men ages 85 or older.
Two Davis County residents died: A man and woman, both 85 or older. Cache County also reported the deaths of a man and woman, each 85 or older.
Uintah County reported two residents died, both men ages 85 or older.
Five counties each reported a single death: A Box Elder County woman, 65-84; a Carbon County woman 65-84; a Morgan County man 85 or older; a Sevier County man 65-84; and a Summit County woman age 65-84.
Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 223. That is 5 fewer than reported on Thursday. Of those currently hospitalized, 41 are in intensive care, up 5 from Wednesday.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate was 5.6% in the past day. That is lower than the seven-day average of 7.5%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Wednesday’s rate was 2.8%, lower than the seven-day average of 4.8%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Totals to date • 925,275 cases; 4,518 deaths; 33,597 hospitalizations; 9,302,311 tests administered.
