242 New Cases Of Coronavirus Reported In Utah; No New Deaths

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – One more Utahn has died of COVID-19, according to the latest report issued by the Utah Department of Health. There were 242 additional cases, with an additional 13,617 vaccines administered.

The number of people hospitalized for the virus was 153.

The total number of Utahns lost to the disease was 2,224, which was 34 more in the last week.

Testing

Health officials reported a total of 2,637,780 Utah residents have been tested for the novel coronavirus – an increase 3,614 since Saturday.

Officials reported 402,567 residents have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began – an increase of 242 cases in the last day. Of those tested since Saturday, 6.7 percent were positive. There has been an increase of 2,215 cases in the last week.

The rolling seven-day average for positive tests was 317 per day. The rolling seven-day average for percent of positive laboratory tests was 6.5 percent.

Including people who have been tested more than once, 4,812,730 million tests have been administered in the state.

Vaccinations

At least one dose of the vaccine has been administered to 1,395,253 people in Utah. Those eligible for the vaccine included anyone over the age of 12.

The state has administered 2,407,851 first and second vaccinations. Of those vaccinated, 1,114,675 people have been fully immunized with both doses.

According to numbers reported by the health department, 13,617 vaccines have been administered since numbers reported Saturday.

Health officials said 43 percent of all Utahns over the age of 12 have been fully vaccinated, and 53.8 percent have had at least one vaccination. Including all Utahns of any age, 34.8 percent have been fully vaccinated.

Over 2.9 million vaccines have been delivered to the state.

Hospitalizations

The health department reported 153 people were being treated for COVID-19 in Utah hospitals. Total hospitalizations since the pandemic began was 16,519 people.

Utah officials said 72.6 percent of the 529 ICU beds across the state were full. Of those, 50 were being used by patients confirmed to have COVID-19. An additional eight 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 all ICU beds.

Deaths

The Utah Department of Health reported there have been no additional COVID-19 deaths in the last day. There have been 2,258 total deaths of residents from the disease in the Beehive State since the pandemic began – and 34 in the last week.

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

National/Worldwide Numbers

There have been over 32.9 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States. Nearly 586,000 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 162.6 million cases and 3,371,597 deaths – 86,006 in the last week.

With just 4 percent of the worldwide population, the United States has accounted for 20.2 percent of the global cases and 17.4 percent of the deaths since the pandemic began.

With one percent of the US population, Utah has accounted for about 0.39 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

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.

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.)