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The Utah Department of Health reported Tuesday that coronavirus cases and hospitalizations keep falling in Utah, following the winter omicron variant surge, while officials reported eight more deaths.
The additional deaths brings Utah’s total to 4,417, since the first death nearly two years ago. The youngest of the eight reported Tuesday was a Davis County woman, age 25-44.
The department also counted 278 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, much lower than the thousands of cases per day reported in early February.
Officials also reported 314 COVID-19 patients in Utah hospitals, a dozen fewer than reported Monday, and 70 coronavirus patients in Utah’s intensive care units.
ICU occupancy rates are also declining. Officials reported that 68.3% of all Utah ICU beds were occupied, compared to 71.2% the day before. ICUs in the state’s larger “referral” hospitals were at 71.4% capacity, lower than Monday’s 73.9%.
Both Tuesday ICU figures were well below the 85% threshold that hospital administrators have said is necessary to leave room for unpredictable staffing levels, new patients and availability of specialized equipment and personnel.
A UDOH analysis continues to show that booster shots significantly decrease Utahns’ chances of dying of COVID-19. Over the past four weeks:
• An unvaccinated person who contracts the virus is 4.9 times more likely to die than a fully vaccinated person, and 13.3 times more likely than a boosted person.
• An unvaccinated person who contracts the virus is 2.4 times more likely to be hospitalized than a fully vaccinated person, and 6.4 times more likely than a boosted person.
• An unvaccinated person is twice as likely to contract the virus than a fully vaccinated person, and 2.5 times more likely than a boosted person.
According to state data, 61% of Utahns were fully vaccinated as of Thursday. However, just 26.8% of all Utahns have received a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Find where to get vaccinated at coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine-distribution. Find where to get tested at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-covid-19-testing-locations.
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Vaccine doses administered in the past day/total doses administered • 2,928 / 4,948,377.
Number of Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,983,989 — 61% of Utah’s total population. That is an increase of 2,928 in the past day.
Cases reported during the past day • 278.
Vaccination status • Health officials do not immediately have or release the vaccination status of individuals who test positive, who are hospitalized or who die. They do calculate the overall risk ratios of these outcomes depending on vaccination status, which is listed below.
Tests reported in the past day • A total of 3,756 people were tested.
Deaths reported in the past day • 8.
Salt Lake County reported two deaths, both women, ages 45-64 and 65-84.
The youngest person in Tuesday’s report was a Davis County woman, age 25-44.
Five other counties each reported one death: a Duchesne County man age 65-84; a Tooele County man age 65-84; a Utah County man age 65-84; a Washington County man 85 or older; a Weber County woman age 65-84.
Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 314. That is 12 fewer than reported on Monday. Of those currently hospitalized, 70 are in intensive care, three fewer than Monday.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate was 7.4% in the past day. That is lower than the seven-day average of 14.1%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Friday’s rate was 3.2%, lower than the seven-day average of 8.4%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Totals to date • 923,130 cases; 4,417 deaths; 33,266 hospitalizations; 9,238,416 tests administered.
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