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12 more Utahns die of COVID-19

Vaccinations continue, but the death toll continues to rise.

(Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune file photo) A vial of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is photographed in March.

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Even as the the number of Utahns who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 continues to edge up, the coronavirus death toll is also rising. On Tuesday, the Utah Department of Health reported 12 more coronavirus-related deaths.

Eight of the fatalities occurred before April 19, and were only recently confirmed to have been caused by COVID-19.

Almost 9,000 more Utahns were fully vaccinated in the past day, receiving either their second shot of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Vaccine doses administered in past day/total doses administered • 18,126 / 2,429,469.

Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,126,397.

Cases reported in past day • 257.

Deaths reported in past day • 12.

Salt Lake County reported four deaths: a man and a woman between the ages of 65 and 84, and two women 85-plus.

There were three deaths in Utah County: a man 45-64, and two men 65-84.

Weber County also reported three deaths: a woman 45-64, and a man and a woman 65-84.

A Box Elder County woman 65-84 also died, as did a Washington County woman 85-plus.

Tests reported in past day • 3,612 people were tested for the first time. A total of 8,821 people were tested.

Hospitalizations reported in past day • 138. That’s 10 fewer than on Monday. Of those currently hospitalized, 53 are in intensive care, two more than on Monday.

Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 7.1%. That’s higher than the seven-day average of 6.6%.

The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Tuesday’s rate was 2.9%, 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 • 402,988 cases; 2,271 deaths; 16,564 hospitalizations; 2,643,815 people tested.