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The number of new COVID-19 cases in Utah ticked up a bit Wednesday with a count of 183 — 21 cases above the seven-day average.
The state also reported three more deaths; two of those occurred before Feb. 16. Utah’s COVID-19 death toll since the pandemic began is now 4,553.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 fell to 172 on Wednesday, down 15 from Tuesday. There were also 34 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units, four fewer than Tuesday.
According to UDOH, 68.5% of Utah’s 513 ICU beds are filled, which falls well below the 85% threshold that healthcare workers have said is needed to have enough rooms, equipment and staff available to treat new patients. COVID-19 patients make up 9.5% of the state’s ICU patients.
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 five times more likely to die than a fully vaccinated person, and 19.3 times more likely than a boosted person.
• An unvaccinated person who contracts the virus is 2.1 times more likely to be hospitalized than a fully vaccinated person, and 5.3 times more likely than a boosted person.
• An unvaccinated person is 1.9 times as likely to contract the virus than a fully vaccinated person, and twice likely than a boosted person.
While state data shows 61.3% of Utahns were fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, just 27.2% 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 • 2,097 / 4,981,152.
Number of Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,993,366 — 61.3% of Utah’s total population. That is an increase of 569 in the past day.
Cases reported during the past day • 183.
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 4,919 people were tested.
Deaths reported in the past day • Three. Two of the deaths occurred before Feb. 16.
The deaths of a Salt Lake County man between the ages of 65-84, a Utah County man 65-84, and a Sanpete County woman 45-64 were reported on Wednesday.
Hospitalizations reported in the day • 172. That is 15 fewer than reported on Tuesday. Of those currently hospitalized, 34 are in intensive care, down four from Tuesday.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate was 8.2% in the past day. That is higher than the seven-day average of 5.7%.
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 3.5%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Totals to date • 926,149 cases; 4,553 deaths; 33,747 hospitalizations; 9,332,206 tests administered.
