SALT LAKE CITY – The number of COVID-19 cases in Utah rose 658 on Wednesday, with two more deaths and another 23,904 reported vaccinations, according to the Utah Department of Health.
The state now estimates that there are 13,444 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah.
The average continuous number of seven positive days a day is now 520, according to the health department. The positive daily test rate for that period compared to the ‘people over people’ method is now 8.6%. The positive seven-day average test rate calculated using the “test-by-test” method is now 4.16%.
There are 175 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 73 in intensive care, state data show. About 71% of all beds in intensive care units in Utah are now occupied, including about 71% of ICU beds in the state’s 16 referral hospitals. About 55% of all non-ICU hospital beds are now occupied, state data show.
A total of 902,391 vaccines were administered in the state, up from 878,487 on Tuesday. There are now 589,997 Utahns who have received at least one dose of vaccine, while 328,509 state residents have been completely vaccinated. A total of 1,108,275 doses of vaccine have been shipped to Utah so far.
On Tuesday, Governor Spencer Cox’s office announced the administration’s plan to open vaccine eligibility for every adult in Utah, regardless of age or medical condition, until April 1.
“We anticipate opening vaccine eligibility for every adult in the state on April 1 and will likely have 1.5 million first doses in the state by April 10,” Cox spokeswoman Jennifer Napier-Pearce said in a statement Tuesday. in the evening.
The Utah Transit Authority has also announced that it will offer free fares to anyone who uses transit to get to a vaccination program. Any of the UTA transit modes will be free until June 30 for anyone traveling to a confirmed COVID-19 vaccination meeting, said the agency.
Wednesday’s new figures show a 0.2% increase in positive cases on Tuesday. Of the 2,265,344 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah to date, 16.6% tested positive for the disease. The total number of tests performed since the beginning of the pandemic is now 3,952,437, up 18,159 on Tuesday. Of these, 7,955 were tests in people who had not been previously tested for COVID-19, according to the health department.
The two deaths reported on Wednesday were a man from Juab County, who was between 65 and 84 years old and was hospitalized when he died, as well as a woman from Tooele County, who was between 65 and 84 years old and was a resident. of a long-term care unit, said the health department.
Wednesday’s totals give Utah 376,327 confirmed cases, with 14,986 total hospitalizations and 1,992 total deaths from the disease. A total of 360,891 cases of Utah COVID-19 are now considered recovered, according to the health department.
Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah, is scheduled to deliver a COVID-19 pandemic update at a news conference on Thursday at 11 a.m.