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15 more Utahns die of COVID-19 in the past day

Utah Department of Health adds 19 to death toll — four died before Sept. 1.

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Fifteen more Utahns died of COVID-19 in the past day, and there were almost 1,600 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

The Utah Department of Health also added four deaths that occurred before Sept. 1 to the state’s total, which now stands at 2,860.

In the past day, 1,598 Utahns tested positive for COVID-19. School-age children accounted for 23% of those cases, the Utah Department of Health announced — a total of 371. There were 147 cases in children aged 5 to 10; 76 cases in children 11 to 13; and 148 cases in children 14 to 18.

The rolling seven-day average for positive tests stands at 1,401 per day.

In the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahns were 5.2 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated people, according to a state Health Department analysis. The unvaccinated also were 7.1 times more likely to be hospitalized and 6.5 times more likely to test positive for the coronavirus.

An additional 3,734 Utahns were fully vaccinated in the past day, bringing the total to 1,666,808 — 51% of Utah’s total population.

Vaccine doses administered in past day / total doses administered • 5,826 / 3,411,342.

Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,666,808

Cases reported in past day • 1,598.

Deaths reported in past day • 19.

Tests reported in past day • 11,908 people were tested for the first time. A total of 20,466 people were tested.

Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 562. That’s one more than reported on Wednesday. Of those currently hospitalized, 223 are in intensive care, four fewer than reported on Wednesday.

Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 13.4% over the past day. That is slightly lower than the seven-day average of 13.6%.

The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. The rate reported Thursday was 7.8%, which is 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 • 499,026 cases; 2,860 deaths; 21,676 hospitalizations; 3,394,580 people tested.

According to the state Health Department, Utah has seen 15,879 “breakthrough” cases of COVID-19 — people who contracted the virus two weeks or more after being fully vaccinated. That’s 0.95% of people who are fully vaccinated.

Of that number, 827 required hospitalization — 0.05% of those fully vaccinated. And there have been 106 deaths — 0.0064% of those fully vaccinated.

— This story is developing and will be updated.