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Utah’s COVID-19 death toll tops 2,000

State reports 23 more fatalities, as the number of those fully vaccinated nears 340,000.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) People drive in for appointments to be vaccinated for COVID-19 at the Davis County Legacy Center in Farmington on Monday, March 8, 2021. Utah's mass vaccination sites are seeing their appointment schedules fill up fast, on the first day that people 50 and older are officially eligible to get their first dose.

  | March 11, 2021, 6:22 p.m.
| Updated: 6:55 p.m.

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Almost a year after the first Utahn died of COVID-19, the state passed 2,000 total deaths.

The Utah Department of Health reported 23 additional fatalities Thursday, raising the total to 2,015. Fifteen of the latest 23 reported deaths occurred before Feb. 11 and were confirmed to be COVID-19 related after additional testing.

The state’s first recorded death due to the coronavirus was announced on March 22, 2020.

All but two of the 23 deaths reported on Thursday were age 65 or older, and 14 were age 85 or older.

The state also reported more than 34,000 people were vaccinated Wednesday, as the number of those fully vaccinated — either with both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine — approached 340,000.

Vaccine doses administered in past day/total doses administered • 34,290 / 936,681.

Utahns fully vaccinated • 339,743.

Cases reported in past day • 646.

Deaths reported in past day • 23.

Salt Lake County reported eight deaths — two women between the ages of 65 and 84, and three men and three women 85-plus.

There were four deaths in Davis County — a man 45 to 64, a man 65 to 84, and two women 85-plus.

Washington County reported three deaths — a man 45 to 64, and a man and a woman 65 to 84.

Two Utah County residents died — a man 65 to 84 and a man 85-plus.

Six counties each reported a single death — a woman 85-plus in Box Elder County; a woman 85-plus in Cache County; a woman 65 to 84 in Iron County; a man 85-plus in Kane County; a man 85-plus in Uintah County; and a woman 85-plus in Weber County.

Hospitalizations reported in past day • 167. That’s down eight from Wednesday. Of those currently hospitalized, 66 are in intensive care units — seven fewer than Wednesday.

Tests reported in past day • 8,139 people were tested for the first time. A total of 18,923 people were tested.

Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 7.93%. That’s lower than the seven-day average of 8.44%.

Its new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Thursday’s rate is now at 3.41%, lower than the seven-day average of 4.03%.

[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]

Totals to date • 376,973 cases; 2,015 deaths; 15,014 hospitalizations; 2,273,483 people tested.

This story is developing and will be updated.