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Utah reports 9 more COVID-19 deaths

More than 1,100 new cases were reported Thursday.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Nurse Sarah Wilson, left, and Dr. Christina Richards fill syringes with the Moderna vaccine for those lining up to get the vaccine on Thursday, March 18, 2021, as part of a drive up at the Utah Film Studios in Park City.

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Nine more Utahns have died of COVID-19, and the Utah Department of Health on Thursday reported 1,104 new coronavirus cases.

Three of the nine Utahns whose deaths were reported Thursday were under the age of 65 — all men between the ages of 45-64.

The rolling seven-day average for new cases stands at 1,051 per day.

The number of children getting vaccinated continues to climb — 83,917 children ages 5-11 have gotten at least one dose since they became eligible. That’s 23% of kids that age in Utah, according to the Health Department. And 47,195 of those kids have been fully vaccinated — 12.9% of that age group.

Intensive care units in the state remain near capacity. UDOH reported Wednesday that 92.9% of all ICU beds in Utah and 95% 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, 39.9% are being treated for COVID-19.

Vaccine doses administered in the past day/total doses administered • 14,698 / 4,390,582.

Number of Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,873,278 — 57.3% of Utah’s total population. That is an increase of 3,183 in the past day.

Cases reported in the past day • 1,104.

Cases among school-age children • Kids in grades K-12 accounted for 163 of the new cases announced Wednesday — 14.8% of the total. There were 72 cases reported in children aged 5-10; 41 cases in children 11-13; and 59 cases in children 14-18.

Tests reported in past day • 9,388 people were tested for the first time. A total of 18,554 people were tested.

Deaths reported in past day • Nine.

There were four deaths in Utah County — two men between the ages of 45-64, a woman 65-84, and a man 85 or older. Two Davis County residents — a man and a woman 65-84 — also died.

The three other deaths were a Salt Lake County man 45-64; a Washington County man 65-84; and a Weber County man 65-84.

Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 507. That is seven fewer than reported on Wednesday. Of those currently hospitalized, 193 are in intensive care, nine fewer than reported on Wednesday.

Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 11.8% in the past day. That is lower than the seven-day average of 13.5%.

The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Thursday’s rate was 6%, lower than the seven-day average of 9.2%.

[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 14.8 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than vaccinated people, according to a Utah Department of Health analysis. The unvaccinated also were 9.5 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 3.7 times more likely to test positive for the coronavirus.

Totals to date • 616,680 cases; 3,697 deaths; 26,892 hospitalizations; 4,112,276 people tested.