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On Monday, the Utah Department of Health reported 2,669 new coronavirus cases in the past three days. There were 1,079 new cases on Friday, 873 on Saturday, and 749 on Sunday, for an average of just under 900 per day.
(The health department no longer reports COVID numbers on Saturdays or Sundays.)
The rolling seven-day average of new cases stands at 1,136.
There were 21 more deaths over the past three days, the health department reported. A dozen of them were people who were under the age of 65 — three between the ages of 25-44, and nine who were 45-64.
There have been 116 deaths so far in December, an average of 9.67 per day.
The number of children getting vaccinated against COVID-19 continues to climb — as 80,865 children ages 5-11 have gotten at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine since they became eligible; that’s 22.2% of kids within that age range in Utah, according to UDOH, with 11.1% fully vaccinated.
Intensive care units in the state remain near capacity. UDOH reported Monday that 97.1% of all ICU beds in Utah and 99.1% of ICU beds in larger medical centers in the state are occupied. (Hospitals consider any figure over 85% to be functionally full). Of all ICU patients, 40.3% are being treated for COVID-19.
Vaccine doses administered in the past three days/total doses administered • 17,423 / 4,328,094.
Number of Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,858,769 — 56.8% of Utah’s total population. That is an increase of 4,285 in the past three days.
Cases reported in the past three days • 2,669.
Cases among school-age children • Kids in grades K-12 accounted for 401 of the new cases announced Monday — 15% of the total. There were 199 cases reported in children aged 5-10; 93 cases in children 11-13; and 109 cases in children 14-18.
Tests reported in past three days • 21,034 people were tested for the first time. A total of 41,585 people were tested.
Deaths reported in past three days • 21.
There were eight deaths in Utah County: A man and a woman 25-44, two men and a person whose gender was not reported 45-64, and two women and a person whose gender was not reported 65-84.
Salt Lake County reported four deaths: A man and a woman 45-64, a man 65-84, and a man 85-plus.
There were three deaths in Weber County: A man 25-44, a woman 45-64, and a man 65-84. And two deaths in Cache County: A man 45-64 and a man 85-plus.
Four counties each reported one death: A person 65-84 whose gender was not reported in Carbon County; a man 45-64 in Iron County; a woman 65-84 in Millard County; and a woman 45-64 in San Juan County.
Hospitalizations reported in the past three days • 503. That is 33 fewer than reported on Friday. Of those currently hospitalized, 204 are in intensive care, eight fewer than reported on Friday.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 12.7% in the past three days. That is lower than the seven-day average of 14.5%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Monday’s rate was 6.4%, lower than the seven-day average of 9.1%.
[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 15 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated people, according to a Utah Department of Health analysis. The unvaccinated also were 9.4 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 3.6 times more likely to test positive for the coronavirus.
Totals to date • 613,350 cases; 3,661 deaths; 26,656 hospitalizations; 4,085,623 people tested.
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