Utah Reports 300 New COVID-19 Cases, 10 Additional Deaths
May 21, 2021, 1:54 PM | Updated: 2:02 pm
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Department of Health on Friday said 10 more Utahns have died from COVID-19 while 300 additional residents have tested positive for the virus.
UDOH said nine of those deaths occurred before April 21.
Currently, 136 people are hospitalized with the virus and an additional 18,716 vaccines have been administered, bringing the state’s total to more than 2.48 million.
UDOH also said over 1.1 million Utahns are now fully vaccinated.
For more information, visit coronavirus.utah.gov.
Last week, Gov. Spencer Cox announced the statewide mask mandate for K-12 schools will end beginning the Monday of a school’s final week.
The order requiring masks in state facilities and for state employees also ended last week.
Testing
UDOH reports 2,658,131 people have been tested — 4,321 more than Thursday. Of those, 403,984 Utahns have tested positive for COVID-19 — an increase of 300 new cases.
The rolling seven-day average for positive tests was 284 — down from 291 on Thursday.
The rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “people over people” rose slightly to 6.4% while the rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “tests over tests” remained at 3.4%.
Vaccinations
The state has administered 2,482,804 vaccines in total, which is an increase of 18,716 over Thursday’s numbers. As of Friday, over 1.43 million Utahns had received at least one dose of a vaccine and over 1.15 million Utahns had been fully vaccinated.
Over 3.01 million vaccines have been delivered to Utah.
Hospitalizations
Currently, 136 people are hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 54 of those people were in intensive care units.
Utah’s ICUs were 75.6% full and the ICU beds in Utah’s referral centers were 79.8% full Friday.
“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
Ten additional deaths were reported Friday — UDOH said nine of those deaths occurred before April 21. To date, the virus has killed 2,289 of the state’s residents.
The following deaths were reported Friday:
- Five females:
- between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
- older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, not hospitalized
- older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
- older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, long-term care facility resident
- between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death
- Five males:
- between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death
- between 65-84, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death
- older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, hospitalized at time of death
- older than 85, Salt Lake County resident, not hospitalized
- between 65-84, Utah County resident, hospitalized at time of death
Nationwide Numbers
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.)