SALT LAKE CITY – As Utah enters the final hours before the end of a statewide mask warrant, at the end of Friday, the state number of COVID-19 cases increased by 444, with nine more deaths and 46,995 reported vaccinations , according to the Utah Department of Health.
As pointed out in Utah House Bill 294, also known as the “endgame” pandemic bill, masks will not be required in most settings after Friday. Masks will still be needed in K-12 schools, at meetings of 50 or more people, at private companies that still need them, and at a limited number of other settings. Grand County and Salt Lake City have also chosen to keep mask warrants in place.
Health officials have called on people to continue wearing masks after the term was lifted.
“Until more people have the chance to get vaccinated, we urge people to continue wearing masks in public places and around those who have not been vaccinated,” Health Department Chief Executive Richard Saunders said Friday. “We have come so far and we are so close to returning to normal. We ask for your patience and cooperation a little more.”
There are approximately 8,876 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah, according to the health department. According to the health department, the average number of positive cases per day for seven days is now 402. The positive daily test rate for that time period calculated using the “people over people” method is now 7%. The positive daily test rate for that period calculated using the “test over test” method is now 3.4%.
There are currently 140 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 55 in intensive care, state data show. About 70 percent of beds in the Utah intensive care unit have been occupied since Friday, including about 72 percent of ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals, according to state data. About 54% of non-ICU hospital beds are occupied in Utah.
A total of 1,650,850 doses of the vaccine were administered in the state, up from 1,603,855 on Thursday. A total of 1,068,003 Utahns have now received at least one dose of vaccine, while 649,354 are now fully vaccinated. A total of 1,919,610 doses of vaccine have been shipped to the state so far.
The new figures indicate a 0.1% increase in positive cases on Thursday. Of the 2,436,569 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah to date, 16% tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests conducted since the beginning of the pandemic is now at 4,352,241, up 12,293 on Thursday. Of these, 5,264 were tested in individuals who had not been previously tested for COVID-19.
The nine deaths reported on Friday were:
- A man from Cache County who was over 85 years old and was not hospitalized when he died
- A man from Davis County who was over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A woman in Davis County who was over 85 and living in a long-term care facility
- A woman from Salt Lake County who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care institution
- A woman in Salt Lake County who was over 85 years old and a resident of a long-term care facility
- A woman from Salt Lake County, who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when she died
- A man from Salt Lake County who was over 85 years old and was not hospitalized when he died
- A man from Salt Lake County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when he died
- A woman from Weber County who was between 65 and 84 years old and was a resident of a long-term care institution
Eight of the deaths occurred before March 18, but were still being investigated by state doctors, the health department said. The death of a woman in Salt Lake County, which was previously reported on Feb. 21, has been removed from the total after further investigations, health officials said.
Friday’s total offers Utah 389,353 confirmed cases in total, with 15,728 total hospitalizations and 2,157 total deaths from the disease. An estimated 378,320 COVID-19 cases in Utah are now considered recovered, according to the health department.
There is no COVID-19 press conference scheduled for this week.
In addition to the end of the state-wide mask mandate, HB294 also requires that all state and local health orders related to COVID-19 end on the day Utah reaches the threshold in three key values: case rate the state’s 14-day population is less than 191 per 100,000 people, the seven-day average use of the COVID-19 intensive care unit is below 15%, and 1,633,000 primary doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been allocated in Utah.
As of Friday, the state’s 14-day rate per 100,000 people is now 176.5, and the average UCI use of COVID-19 is about 9.9 percent, according to state data. Utah has a long way to go to reach the prime vaccine dose threshold: 992,325 prime doses have been allocated in Utah since this week. 1,633,000 are expected to pass in the second or third week of May, health officials say.
The first dose of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, as well as the single dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, are considered primary doses.
Because the primary dose allocation for the COVID-19 vaccine is updated only once a week, the number of people who have received a dose of the vaccine frequently exceeds the allocation of the primary dose because it is updated daily on the coronavirus website. While the state reported on Friday that 1,068,003 Utahns received at least one dose of vaccine, the allocation of the first dose remains at 992,325 for this week.