10 More Utahns Die Of COVID-19; Another 460 Cases Confirmed

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Another 10 Utahns have died of COVID-19, according to the latest report from the Utah Department of Health. Another 460 cases of the virus have been confirmed.

More than 27,000 vaccines have been administered in the last day, bringing the total to nearly 1.3 million.

The number of people hospitalized for the virus was 137.

The deaths bring the total number of Utahns lost to COVID-19 to 2,101 – 41 more in the last week.

Testing

Health officials reported a total of 2,368,017 Utah residents have been tested for the novel coronavirus – an increase 6,048 since Friday.

Officials reported 384,173 residents have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began – an increase of 460 cases in the last day. Of those tested since Friday, 7.6 percent were positive. There has been an increase of 2,919 cases in the last week.

The rolling seven-day average for positive tests was 419 per day – down 50 since last Saturday. The rolling seven-day average for percent of positive laboratory tests was 7.4 percent.

Including people who have been tested more than once, nearly 4.2 million tests have been administered in the state.

Vaccinations

At least one dose of the vaccine has been administered to 852,258 people in Utah, which has been opened up to anyone over the age of 16.

The state has administered 1,289,691 first and second vaccinations. Of those vaccinated, 470,905 people have been fully immunized with both doses.

According to numbers reported by the health department, 27,583 vaccines have been administered since numbers reported Friday, and more than 152,000 in the last week.

Nearly 1.5 million vaccines have been delivered to the state.

Hospitalizations

The health department reported 137 people were being treated for COVID-19 in Utah hospitals. Total hospitalizations since the pandemic began was 15,441 people.

Utah officials said 67.9 percent of the 529 ICU beds across the state were full. Of those, 56 were being used by patients confirmed to have COVID-19. An additional 22 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 10 Utahns have died of COVID-19, according to the Utah Department of Health. They said six of those deaths were before March 1.

The latest deaths included five women and five men. Six were older than the age of 65. The others were between the ages of 45 to 64.

There have been 2,101 total deaths of residents from the disease in the Beehive State since the pandemic began – an increase of 41 reported in the last week.

Identities of those who the state said died of COVID-19 have not been released.

Beaver County

Officials said a man living in Beaver County was hospitalized when he died of COVID-19. The man was between the ages of 45 to 64.

The man was the seventh COVID-19 death in the county. There have been 257 deaths in the area covered by the Southwest Utah Public Health Department, which also covers Garfield, Kane, Iron and Washington counties.

Davis County

Officials reported the deaths of two Davis County residents – a woman and a man. The woman was living in a long-term care facility. She was over the age of 85.

The man had been hospitalized. He was between the ages of 45 to 64.

Their deaths brought the total in the county to 157.

Salt Lake County

Three people from Salt Lake County were reported among the latest deaths. Officials said a woman and two men succumbed to COVID-19.

The woman and one of the men were over the age of 85 and residents of a long-term care facility. The other man was between the ages of 45 to 64 and hospitalized when he died.

There have been 818 deaths in the state’s most populated county. With 36 percent of the population, the county had 39 percent of the state’s deaths.

Utah County

Included in the latest report were the deaths of two Utah County women over the age of 85. One was living in a long-term care facility. The other woman had not been hospitalized for treatment.

Health officials have reported a total of 361 COVID-19 deaths in the county.

Washington County

A Washington County man was among the deaths reported by the state Saturday. Officials said he was between the ages of 65 to 84, and had not been hospitalized.

His death brought the total in the county to 204, and the total in the area covered by the Southwest Utah Health Department to 257. The health district also includes Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane and Washington counties.

Weber County

The death of a woman between the ages of 45 to 64 from Weber County was among those reported by the health department. Officials said she was hospitalized when she died.

Her death brought the total in the county to 183, and total in the area covered by the Morgan-Weber Health Department to 185.

National/Worldwide Numbers

There have been over 30.1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States. More than 548,000 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 126.3 million cases and 2,769,934 deaths.

With just 4 percent of the worldwide population, the United States has accounted for 23.9 percent of the global cases and 19.8 percent of the deaths since the pandemic began. Both of those numbers

With one percent of the US population, Utah has accounted for about 0.38 percent of the country’s deaths, meaning the state has fared better than the national average for 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

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Click here to sign up for a vaccine and here to see how Utah’s vaccine rollout is progressing.

The latest COVID-19 stories from KSL can be found here.

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 are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies.)