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Almost 1,900 more Utahns tested positive for COVID-19 in the past day, and 11 more have died of the coronavirus. School-age children contracted about one in four of all new cases, the Utah Department of Health announced.
There were 1,885 cases reported on Tuesday, and children in grades K-12 accounted for 416 of those cases, according to the announcement. There were 188 cases in children aged 5-10; 99 cases in children 11-13; and 129 cases in children 14-18.
Tooele High School is the third school in the state to reach the state-designated threshold for a COVID-19 outbreak. The school in western Utah reported Tuesday that more than 2% of its 1,550 students have tested positive. It will now test all students with parent permission. Those who test negative can return to class in person; those who test positive or refuse to test must stay home for two weeks.
Previously, Syracuse Elementary in Davis School District and American Preparatory Academy’s Draper 2 campus hit the designated outbreak threshold.
The rolling seven-day average for positive tests stands at 1,677 per day — the highest average since Jan. 27.
In the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahns were five 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 six times more likely to test positive for the coronavirus.
An additional 4,359 Utahns were fully vaccinated in the past three days, bringing the total to 1,633,946 — 50% of Utah’s total population.
Vaccine doses administered in past day / total doses administered • 7,487 / 3,356,865.
Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,633,946.
Cases reported in past day • 1,885.
Deaths reported in past day • 11.
Salt Lake County reported two deaths — both men between the ages of 65-84. There were also two deaths in Weber County — a man between the ages of 65-84 and a woman 85-plus. And there were two deaths in Utah County — a man 45-64 and a woman 65-84.
The other deaths were a man 65-84 in Box Elder County, a man 85-plus in Davis County, a man 65-84 in Sevier County, a woman 65-84 in Tooele County, and a man 85-plus in Washington County.
Tests reported in past day • 14,601 people were tested for the first time. A total of 24,041 people were tested.
Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 570. That’s 11 fewer than reported on Tuesday. Of those currently hospitalized, 224 are in intensive care, two fewer than on Tuesday.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 12.9% over the past day. That’s lower than the seven-day average of 13.3%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Wednesday’s rate was 7.8%, lower than the seven-day average of 9.9%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Totals to date • 487,351 cases; 2,764 deaths; 21,158 hospitalizations; 3,312,647 people tested.
According to the state department of health, Utah has seen 13,836 “breakthrough” cases of COVID-19 — people who contracted the virus two weeks or more after being fully vaccinated. That’s 0.8% of people who are fully vaccinated.
Of that number, 735 required hospitalization — 0.045% of those fully vaccinated. And there have been 80 deaths — 0.0049% of those fully vaccinated.
— Tribune reporter Courtney Tanner contributed to this report.
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