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Number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Utah continues to rise

Almost 1,300 more Utahns test positive for the coronavirus, and 13 more die.

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The number of Utahns hospitalized by COVID-19 continues to rise, reaching nearly 600. And more than 200 of them are in intensive care.

Almost 1,300 more Utahns tested positive for COVID-19 in the past day, and 13 more have died of the coronavirus.

There were 1,274 cases reported on Monday, the Utah Department of Health announced. Kids in grades K-12 accounted for 290 of those cases, or 22.8%. There were 143 cases in children aged 5-10; 72 cases in children 11-13; and 75 cases in children 14-18.

The rolling seven-day average for positive tests stands at 1,626 per day — the highest that number has been since Jan. 27.

Thirteen more Utahns died of the coronavirus in the past three days. Four of them were under the age of 65, and one was a young woman between the ages of 15-24.

In the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahns were 5.1 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated people, according to a UDOH analysis. The unvaccinated were also 6.8 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 5.9 times more likely to test positive for the coronavirus.

An additional 3,334 Utahns were fully vaccinated in the past three days, bringing the total to 1,629,587 — 50% of Utah’s total population.

Vaccine doses administered in past day / total doses administered • 6,133 / 3,349,378.

Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,629,587.

Cases reported in past day • 1,274.

Deaths reported in past day • 13.

There were five deaths in Salt Lake County: A man between the ages of 45-64, a man and two women 65-84, and a man 85-plus.

Eight other counties each reported a single death: A man 65-84 in Carbon County, a man 65-84 in Davis County, a woman 45-64 in Garfield County, a man 65-84 in Millard County, a man 65-84 in Sanpete County, a man 45-64 in Sevier County, a woman 15-24 in Utah County, and a man 65-84 in Weber County.

Tests reported in past day • 8,559 people were tested for the first time. A total of 15,424 people were tested.

Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 581. That’s 19 more than on Friday. Of those currently hospitalized, 226 are in intensive care, three more than on Friday.

Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 14.9% over the past day. That’s higher than the seven-day average of 12.9%.

The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Tuesday’s rate was 8.3%, lower than the seven-day average of 9.6%.

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

Totals to date • 485,466 cases; 2,753 deaths; 21,083 hospitalizations; 3,298,046 people tested.

According to the UDOH, Utah has seen 13,582 “breakthrough” cases of COVID-19 — people who contracted the virus two weeks or more after being fully vaccinated. That’s 0.6% of people who are fully vaccinated.

Of that number, 721 required hospitalization — 0.04% of those fully vaccinated. And there have been 76 deaths — 0.005% of those fully vaccinated.

This story is developing and will be updated.