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For the second day in a row, 14 Utahns died of COVID-19, the Utah Department of Health reported on Thursday. And for the second day in a row, more than 2,000 new coronavirus cases were reported in the state.
The Health Department reported 2,267 more cases on Thursday; it reported 2,152 on Wednesday. It is the first time the number of new cases has exceeded 2,000 since Sept. 8-9. Before that, it last happened on Jan 20-21.
The rolling seven-day average for positive tests stands at 1,529 per day.
An additional 1,692 Utahns were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus in the past day, bringing the total to 1,760,168 — 53.8% of Utah’s total population.
Intensive care units in the state remain near capacity. According to the Health Department, 94% of all ICU beds and 95.9% of ICU beds in larger medical centers are occupied. Of all ICU patients, 44.3% are being treated for COVID-19.
Vaccine doses administered in the past day/total doses administered • 11,282 / 3,794,735.
Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,760,168
Cases reported in past day • 2,267.
Cases among school age children • Kids in grades K-12 accounted for 480 of the new cases announced Thursday — 21.2% of the total. There were 216 cases reported in children aged 5-10; 129 cases in children 11-13; and 135 cases in children 14-18.
Tests reported in past day • 11,998 people were tested for the first time. A total of 24,258 people were tested.
Deaths reported in past day • 14.
There were four deaths in Salt Lake County — two men between the ages of 45-64, a woman 65-84, and a man 85-plus.
Utah County reported two deaths — a man and a woman 65-84. There were also two deaths in Uintah County — a man 45-64, and a woman 65-84. And two Cache County residents died — both men 65-84.
The other deaths were a Beaver County woman 45-64, a Carbon County man 45-64, an Emery County man 45-64, and an Iron County man 45-64,
Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 572. That is 18 more than reported on Wednesday. Of those currently hospitalized, 216 are in intensive care, one fewer than on Wednesday.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 18.9% over the past day. That is higher than the seven-day average of 17.9%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Thursday’s rate was 9.3%, lower than the seven-day average of 11.7%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Risk ratios • In the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahns were 16.4 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated people, according to a Utah Department of Health analysis. The unvaccinated also were 11.1 times more likely to be hospitalized and 4.9 times more likely to test positive for the coronavirus.
Totals to date • 558,730 cases; 3,276 deaths; 24,397 hospitalizations; 3,746,617 people tested.