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Utah reports the most new COVID-19 cases in five months

You’re five times more likely to test positive and 7.6 times more likely to die if you’re unvaccinated, health department says.

(Leah Hogsten | The Salt Lake Tribune) R.J. Pace, 17, left of Caldwell, Idaho, gets his first COVID-19 vaccine shot from Capt. Raymond Searles with the Utah Air National Guard at a free Pfizer vaccine clinic hosted by the Utah National Guard at Weber State University in Ogden on Aug. 11, 2021. Vaccines are available Mondays and Wednesdays at WSU's Continuing Education Center, at 2605 Monroe Blvd., and Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Shepherd Union until the end of August.

  | Aug. 12, 2021, 7:41 p.m.
| Updated: 11:49 p.m.

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There were 1,243 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Utah in the past day — the most in five months. (There were 1,250 on Feb. 10.)

In the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahns were 7.6 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated people, according to a new analysis from the Utah Department of Health. The unvaccinated were also 6.9 times more likely to be hospitalized, and five times more likely to test positive from the coronavirus.

Based on data from the past six-plus months — since Feb. 1 — unvaccinated Utahns are 10.7 times more likely to die of COVID-19, 6.2 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 5.9 times more likely to test positive, according to UDOH.

The case count is up 39% from one week ago (897 on Aug. 5), and is 2.6 times what it was a month ago (478 on July 12). Three months ago, it was 416 (May 12); six months ago it was 943 (Feb. 12); and a year ago it was 334 (Aug. 12, 2020).

The rolling seven-day average of new cases stands at 843.

Vaccine doses administered in past day/total doses administered • 10,622 / 3,107,938.

Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,513,279.

Cases reported in past day • 1,243.

Deaths reported in past day • Three, all in Utah County — a man between the ages of 45 and 64, and a man and a woman 65-84.

Tests reported in past day • 8,305 people were tested for the first time. A total of 13,833 people were tested.

Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 388. That’s one fewer than on Wednesday. Of those currently hospitalized, 151 are in intensive care, four more than on Wednesday.

Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 15%. That’s higher than the seven-day average of 13.5%.

The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Wednesday’s rate was 9%, lower than the seven-day average of 9.7%.

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

Totals to date • 443,488 cases; 2,521 deaths; 19,193 hospitalizations; 2,996,050 people tested.