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Even as the number of Utahns fully vaccinated against COVID-19 continues to rise, so does the death toll. The state health department reported 11 more deaths on Tuesday, bringing the total to 2,236 since the pandemic began.
Eight of those deaths occurred before April 11 and were only recently confirmed to be the result of the coronavirus.
The number of Utahns fully vaccinated rose Tuesday to almost 1.063 million, which is almost one-third of the state’s total population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Vaccine doses administered in past day/total doses administered • 11,284 / 2,327,153.
Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,062,731.
Cases reported in past day • 224.
Deaths reported in past day • 11.
Salt Lake County reported four deaths: a man between the ages of 25 and 44; and a man and two women 85-plus.
There were two deaths in Davis County: a woman 65-84, and a man 85-plus.
There were also two deaths in Sanpete County: a man and a woman, both 85-plus.
And three counties each reported one death: a woman 65-84 in Kane County; a man 45-64 in Tooele County; and a woman 45-64 in Utah County.
Tests reported in past day • 4,574 people were tested for the first time. A total of 11,280 people were tested.
Hospitalizations reported in past day • 142. That’s the same as on Monday. Of those currently hospitalized, 57 are in intensive care units, four fewer than on Monday.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 4.9%. That’s lower than the seven-day average of 6.5%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Tuesday’s rate was 2.0%, lower than the seven-day average of 3.6%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Totals to date • 400,783 cases; 2,236 deaths; 16,417 hospitalizations; 2,610,541 people tested.
Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall has signed an executive order mandating that both city employees and members of the public wear face masks in city facilities.
“I’m committed to keeping our city team healthy, and ensuring the members of the public we interact with stay safe,” Mendenhall said in a statement. “Our city’s transmission and vaccination data, coupled with the advice of the CDC to continue wearing masks indoors, tells me that we need to keep doing what has worked — wearing masks.”
Exceptions include “specific medical conditions”; while eating or drinking “provided that the individual remains in place”; and for children younger than 3.
Salt Lake County facilities are under a similar mask order, issued last summer by Mayor Jenny Wilson and updated on April 9. Some Republican members of the Salt Lake County Council are asking Wilson, a Democrat, to lift that order — and are considering steps to remove the order if Wilson refuses.
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