5 More Utahns Die Of COVID; Less Than 300 New Daily Cases Reported

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Less than 300 new cases of coronavirus were reported by the Utah Department of Health in the last day. Officials said nearly 4,500 more vaccines were administered. They also reported the deaths of five more Utahns.

The number of people hospitalized for the virus was 214.

The deaths bring the total number of Utahns lost to COVID-19 to 1,940.

Testing

Health officials reported a total of 2,208,924 Utah residents have been tested for the novel coronavirus – an increase of 3,133 since Friday.

Officials reported 371,492 residents have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began – an increase of 257 cases in the last day. Of those tested since Saturday, 8.2 percent were positive.

The rolling seven-day average for positive tests was 636 per day. The rolling seven-day average for percent of positive laboratory tests was 11 percent.

Over 3.8 million total tests have been administered.

Vaccinations

The vaccine has been administered to 464,895 people in Utah. Until now, those eligible for vaccines has including health workers, educators and residents age 65 and older.

Over the last few days, the vaccine has been opened up to high-risk individuals age 16 to 64, as well.

The state has administered 721,029 first and second vaccinations. Of those vaccinated, 256,554 people have been fully immunized with both doses.

According to numbers reported by the health department, 4,493 vaccines have been administered since numbers reported Sunday.

The number of vaccines delivered to the state was nearly 821,000.

Hospitalizations

The health department reported 214 people were being treated for COVID-19 in Utah hospitals. A total of 14,724 people have been hospitalized for the disease since the first case in Utah one year ago.

Health officials said 65.9 percent of the 537 ICU beds across the state were full. Of those, 89 were being used by patients confirmed to have COVID-19. An additional 24 patients in ICU beds were suspected of having COVID-19, pending additional testing.

The remaining ICU beds were used by patients with other critical medical conditions. Hospital officials have said there was staffing for around 85 percent of those beds.

Deaths

An additional five Utah deaths have been reported in the last day by the Utah Department of Health.

The latest COVID-19 deaths were all men. All but two were over the age of 65, and seven had not been hospitalized. Ten were living in long-term care facilities.

There have been 1,940 total deaths of residents from the disease in the Beehive State since the pandemic began.

Iron/Kane Counties

One of the men was a resident of Iron County and another was from Kane County. They were both between the ages of 65 to 84 and had been hospitalized for treatment.

The deaths brought the total to 32 in Iron County to 32 and 4 in Kane County. The total in the area covered by the Southwest Utah Health Department to 234. The health district also includes Beaver, Garfield and Washington counties.

Salt Lake County

Three Salt Lake County men were among the deaths reported Monday. Two were between the ages of 65 to 84 and one was between the ages of 45 to 64. All had been hospitalized for treatment.

There have been 766 COVID-19 deaths in the state’s most populated county.

National/Worldwide Numbers

There have been just under 28.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States – with around 500,000 new cases in the last week.

Over 510,000 Americans have died of the disease, according to numbers compiled by the Coronavirus Resource Center at John Hopkins University.

Across the globe there have been over 113.5 million cases and 2,519,713 deaths – nearly 60,000 in the last week, down from nearly 150,000 in the week before.

With just 4 percent of the worldwide population, the United States has accounted for 25.1 percent of the global cases and 20.3 percent of the deaths since the pandemic began.

With one percent of the US population, Utah has accounted for about 0.4 percent of the country’s deaths, meaning the state has fared better than the national average in mortality rates.

The first US case was confirmed on January 21, 2020. The number of new cases in the nation has skyrocketed in November, with a spike significantly higher than any other country.

During the 2019-2020 flu season, an estimates 38 million people caught the influenza virus, requiring 18 million doctor visits and causing 22,000 deaths, according for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Around 35,900 deaths have been attributed to the flu annually, going back to the 2010-2011 flu season. Only twice during that time has the number of deaths exceeded 50,000 – once in 2014-2015, when there were 51,000 deaths, and again in 2017-2018, when there were an estimates 61,000 deaths.

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Coronavirus Resources

Have you or a family member been affected by coronavirus issues in Utah? KSL wants to hear from you. Contact KSL by emailing social@ksl.com.

What is COVID-19? Here’s What You Need To Know To Stay Healthy: ksltv.com/432037/what-is-covid-19/

Latest coronavirus stories from KSL can be found at ksltv.com/coronavirus/.

Where in the world has the coronavirus already appeared? See the map: ksltv.com/?p=432035

Your Life Your Health: How can parents prepare their home, children against coronavirus: ksltv.com/?p=432060

How do I prevent it?

The CDC has some simple recommendations, most of which are the same for preventing other respiratory illnesses or the flu:

• Avoid close contact with people who may be sick
• Avoid touching your face
• Stay home when you are sick
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and then throw the tissue in the trash
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. Always wash your hands with soap and water if your hands are visibly dirty.
• If soap and water is not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

The CDC does not recommend wearing a face mask respirator to protect yourself from coronavirus unless a healthcare professional recommends it.