Utah Reports Zero Additional Deaths, 266 New COVID-19 Cases

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Health on Friday said another 266 Utahns have tested positive for COVID-19.

Currently, 157 people are hospitalized with the virus and UDOH reported an additional 37,700 vaccine doses have been administered, bringing the state’s total to 2,713,796.

Health officials said the jump was due to a backlog of approximately 26,000 doses that were administered by one pharmacy provider dating back as far as Jan. 19.

UDOH also said over 1.29 million Utahns are now fully vaccinated and over 1.53 million have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Also, beginning with the Fourth of July weekend, UDOH will only update the COVID-19 dashboard on official business days.

For more information, visit coronavirus.utah.gov.

Testing

UDOH reports 2,731,915 people have been tested — 3,737 more than Thursday. Of those, 409,007 Utahns have tested positive for COVID-19 — an increase of 266 new cases.

The rolling seven-day average for positive tests was 273 — down from 276 on Thursday.

The rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “people over people” rose slightly to 6.8% while the rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “tests over tests” rose slightly to 4.4%.

Vaccinations

The state has administered 2,713,796 vaccine doses in total, which is an increase of 37,700 over Thursday’s numbers. As of Friday, over 1.53 million Utahns had received at least one dose of a vaccine and over 1.29 million Utahns had been fully vaccinated.

Over 3.17 million vaccines have been delivered to Utah.

Hospitalizations

Currently, 157 people are hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 57 of those people were in intensive care units.

Utah’s ICUs were 75% full and the ICU beds in Utah’s referral centers were 78.1% full Thursday — above the state’s utilization warning threshold.

“At about 69% overall ICU utilization, ICUs in Utah’s major hospitals with the ability to provide best care for COVID-19 patients begin to reach staffing capacity,” UDOH officials said. “Seventy-two percent use among all hospitals and 77% in referral center hospitals creates major strains on the health care system. When 85% capacity is reached, Utah will be functionally out of staffed ICU beds, indicating an overwhelmed hospital system.”

Deaths

Zero additional deaths were reported Friday. To date, the virus has killed 2,319 of the state’s residents.

Nationwide Numbers

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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 unvaccinated Americans should continue wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies.).