Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune is providing free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, sent to your inbox every morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.
The number of coronavirus cases reported in Utah over the weekend averaged at just over 123 a day, according to the Utah Department of Health. That’s well below the average of 169 over the past seven days.
There were 162 new cases reported on Friday; 125 on Saturday; and 84 on Sunday, according to the health department. And 18 cases were removed from list after further testing determined they were not confirmed to be COVID-19.
The state also reported six more deaths, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 4,545. One of the deaths reported Monday occurred before Feb. 14.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 fell to 197 on Monday, 15 fewer than reported on Friday. There were also nine fewer COVID-19 patients in intensive care units.
According to UDOH, 62.4% of Utah’s ICU beds are filled, which falls below the 85% threshold that healthcare workers have said is needed to have enough rooms, equipment and staff available to treat new patients.
In total, Utah had 325 ICU patients as of Monday, 12% of whom are hospitalized because of COVID-19.
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 4.7 times more likely to die than a fully vaccinated person, and 16.8 times more likely than a boosted person.
• An unvaccinated person who contracts the virus is 2.2 times more likely to be hospitalized than a fully vaccinated person, and 5.7 times more likely than a boosted person.
• An unvaccinated person is 1.9 times as likely to contract the virus than a fully vaccinated person, and 2.1 times more likely than a boosted person.
While state data show 61.3% of Utahns were fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, just 27.2% 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.
Breakdown of updated figures
Vaccine doses administered in the past three days/total doses administered • 4,621 / 4,976,995.
Number of Utahns fully vaccinated • 1,992,137 — 61.3% of Utah’s total population. That is an increase of 1,3122 in the past three days.
Cases reported during the past day • 244.
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 above.
Tests reported in the past three days • A total of 11,041 people were tested.
Deaths reported in the past three days • Six. One death occurred before Feb. 14.
Salt Lake County reported three deaths — a man and a woman between the ages of 45-64, and a man 65-84.
Three counties each reported one death, all between the ages of 65-84 — a Davis County man, a Utah County woman, and a Weber County woman .
Hospitalizations reported in the past three days • 197. That is 15 fewer than reported on Friday. Of those currently hospitalized, 39 are in intensive care, down nine from Friday.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate was 4.5% in the past three days. That is higher than the seven-day average of 6.2%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Monday’s rate was 2.2%, lower than the seven-day average of 3.9%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Totals to date • 925,872 cases; 4,545 deaths; 33,701 hospitalizations; 9,320,771 tests administered.
Follow @ScottDPierce