Utah Reports 1 Additional Death, 462 New COVID-19 Cases; Breakthrough Case Info Added To Dashboard
Jun 24, 2021, 1:26 PM
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Health on Thursday said another Utahn has died due to COVID-19 while another 462 residents tested positive for the virus.
UDOH also said the state’s dashboard has been updated to include information on breakthrough cases — people who have gotten sick 14 days or more after being fully vaccinated.
“While no vaccines are 100% effective at preventing illness in vaccinated people, Utah data shows the vaccines have been remarkably effective in protecting vaccinated Utahns from COVID-19,” UDOH officials said. “The data also indicates the vast majority of new cases are in unvaccinated people which is driving the recent increase in COVID-19 cases.
“The increase in cases serves as a reminder that we aren’t out of the woods yet, and it remains critical for Utahns to get vaccinated, limit your contact with others who are not part of your usual circle, wear a mask when you can’t physical distance, stay home if you’re sick and wash your hands often.”
UDOH determines vaccine status for cases using two methods — linking all known cases to vaccination records reported into the Utah Statewide Immunization Information System and through self-report by asking all cases if they have been fully vaccinated. Breakthrough cases may be overrepresented in the data due to this self-reporting.
This information can be found on the “Risk Factors” tab of the state’s coronavirus website.
Currently, 158 Utahns are hospitalized due to the virus and an additional 7,412 vaccine doses have been administered, bringing the state’s total to 2,809,865.
UDOH also said over 1.37 million Utahns are now fully vaccinated and over 1.55 million have received at least one dose of a vaccine.
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 2,774,848 people have been tested — 4,190 more than Wednesday. Of those, 413,008 Utahns have tested positive for COVID-19 — an increase of 462 new cases.
The rolling seven-day average for positive tests was 324 — jumping up from 311 on Wednesday. On June 1, the rolling seven-day average was 200 cases.
The rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “people over people” rose to 8.9% while the rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “tests over tests” rose to 5.9%.
Vaccinations
The state has administered 2,809,865 vaccine doses in total, which is an increase of 7,412 over Wednesday’s numbers.
UDOH said a routine data quality project identified several thousand doses that were previously counted as first doses should have been counted as second doses.
“The result is a 0.8% decrease in the number of adults with at least one dose and a 0.6% increase in the number of adults who have been fully vaccinated,” UDOH officials said. “While the timing of this discovery is unfortunate, with the state pushing to vaccinate 70% of adults with at least one dose by July 4, we remain committed to data transparency and integrity.”
As of Thursday, over 1.55 million Utahns had received at least one dose of a vaccine and over 1.37 million Utahns had been fully vaccinated.
Over 3.24 million vaccines have been delivered to Utah.
Hospitalizations
Currently, 158 people are hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, and 65 of those people were in intensive care units.
Utah’s ICUs were 78.4% full and the ICU beds in Utah’s referral centers were 79.7% full Thursday — passing the state’s utilization warning threshold of 77%.
“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
One additional death was reported Thursday. To date, the virus has killed 2,337 of the state’s residents.
The following death was reported Thursday:
- Male, between 65-84, Sanpete County resident, hospitalized at time of death
Nationwide Numbers
Coronavirus Resources
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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).