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Utah reports 15 more COVID-19 deaths

There were three deaths in the past day, and 12 more before March 1.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Nate Marine gets his first COVID-19 vaccination from Dr. Emil Chuang at the Utah Film Studios in Park City on Thursday, March 18, 2021.

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As the number of Utahns vaccinated against COVID-19 continues to rise — almost 1.2 million doses have been administered, and nearly 430,000 are fully vaccinated — so does the death toll.

The Utah Department of Health reported 15 more deaths Tuesday due to the coronavirus, bringing the total to 2,077. A dozen of those deaths occurred before March 1 and were only recently confirmed as being related to COVID-19.

Vaccine doses administered in past day/total doses administered • 23,950 / 1,178,728.

Utahns fully vaccinated • 429,306.

Cases reported in past day • 383.

Deaths reported in past day • 15.

Salt Lake County reported five deaths: A man and four women, all between the ages of 65 and 84.

There were four deaths in Utah County: A man 45-64, a woman 65-84, and a man and a woman 85+.

Three Davis County residents died: A man 65-84 and two men 85-plus.

And three counties each reported one death: A man 45-64 in Cache County; a man 85+ in Garfield County; and a woman 65-84 in Weber County.

Hospitalizations reported in past day • 131. That’s down 16 from Monday. Of those currently hospitalized, 49 are in intensive care units — three fewer than on Monday.

Tests reported in past day • 6,022 people were tested for the first time. A total of 15,624 people were tested.

Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 6.4%. That’s lower than the seven-day average of 7.8%.

The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Tuesday’s rate is now at 2.5%, lower than the seven-day average of 4%.

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

Totals to date • 382,171 cases; 2,077 deaths; 15,323 hospitalizations; 2,340,071 people tested.