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More than 30,000 Utahns received coronavirus vaccines on Thursday as the total number of vaccinations rose to nearly 1 million. And the number of residents who were completely vaccinated reached almost 340,000.
However, not all news is good. The Utah Department of Health reported two more deaths, and the number of Utahns hospitalized with COVID-19 increased by 17.
Past vaccinations / total vaccinations • 30,300 / 967,481.
Utahns fully vaccinated • 339,743.
Cases reported the other day • 519.
Deaths reported last day • Two. Both were men from Salt Lake County: one aged between 45 and 64, the other 85 years old.
Hospitalizations reported last day • 184. That increased 17 Thursday. Of those currently hospitalized, 66 are in intensive care units – unchanged since Thursday.
Tests reported the other day • 5,780 people were tested for the first time. A total of 13,535 people were tested.
Percentage of positive tests • According to the initial state method, the rate is 9%. It is slightly higher than the seven-day average of 8.4%.
His new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Friday’s rate is now 3.8%, lower than the seven-day average of 4.02%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Totals so far • 377,492 cases; 2,017 deaths; 15,049 hospitalizations; 2,279,263 people tested.
A leading Utah doctor said Friday that recent declines in the number of COVID-19 cases should give Utahns hope, but warned that the coronavirus may not meet the timelines set by political leaders.
“There’s no difference between April 9 and April 10 – it’s a coincidence,” Dr. Todd Vento, medical director of Intermountain Healthcare’s infectious disease telehealth services, said Friday in a weekly Intermountain community briefing on Facebook Live.
April 10 is the date Utah lawmakers decided to end statewide masked mandates, in a bill that passed both houses with a vetoed majority earlier this month. Governor Spencer Cox is expected to sign the bill, despite his reservations.
“I would not look at April 10 anything different from my own personal protection and the personal protection of others,” Vento said. “If I’m in public, I should probably be careful if I go into a place that occupies 100% now and I don’t know their ventilation system and people don’t wear masks.”
Cox also said that all adult Utahs will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by April 1.
These data “are all very positive signs,” Vento said. The optimistic program “reflects the fact that they know the pipeline [for vaccines] it has grown quite a lot, “he said.
Biden’s statement on Thursday – that by July 4, “there is a good chance that you, your family and your friends will be able to gather in the backyard or in your neighborhood, have a kitchen or a barbecue, and celebrate Independence Day “- is another optimistic signal, said Vento.
“I thought he said it in a way to put a point of hope there, something to shoot for,” Vento said. “But also the warning that ‘Hey, I haven’t gotten out of this yet.’ … That’s what we’re heading for, but we still have work to do. ”
This work, Vento said, includes administering the vaccine when available and continuing to wear masks and practice social distancing – even when government rules are high.
“We all want the black and white answer,” Vento said. “It simply came to our notice then. This is the real world. This virus has changed so much and taught us [so much] – unfortunately, to the detriment of the sick and death and hospitalization. ”