More Utahns are now in intensive care beds with COVID-19 than ever before



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According to the Utah Department of Health, there are now more COVID-19 patients hospitalized in intensive care units across Utah than ever before.

The state’s Department of Health reported on Monday that 233 people were being treated for COVID-19 in intensive care units in Utah on Sunday, breaking the previous record of 232 set on Friday. (The highest number of COVID-19 patients ever hospitalized in Utah was 606 on December 9, but of those hospitalized at the time, 213 were in intensive care.)

In the past three days, nearly 3,400 other Utahns have tested positive for COVID-19. More than 650 of these new cases have been reported in school-aged children.

There were 1,373 cases reported on Friday; 1130 on Saturday; and 900 Sunday, for a total of 3,393 and a daily average of 1,131, the UDOH said on Monday. (The state’s health department no longer issues updates on Saturdays and Sundays.)

The number of tests – and the number of new cases – generally decreases on weekends, especially on Sundays.

Kindergarten to grade 12 children accounted for 652 of the new cases announced on Monday. There were 319 cases in children aged 5 to 10 years; 145 cases in children 11-13; and 188 cases in children aged 14-18.

Two other schools – representing a total of five now – have also reached the state designated threshold for an outbreak: Antelope Elementary in the Davis School District and Mountain Crest High School in the Cache County School District.

Both schools will now test all students with parental permission with a Test to Stay event. Those who test negative can return to class in person; those who test positive or refuse to do so must stay home for two weeks.

The seven-day moving average for positive tests is 1,465 per day.

Fourteen more Utahns have died from the coronavirus in the past three days, and the Department of Health has added three more deaths that occurred before September 1 in total. Six of those who died were under 65 and four were under 45.

In the past four weeks, unvaccinated Utahns were 5.6 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than those vaccinated, according to a Department of Health analysis. The unvaccinated were also seven times more likely to be hospitalized and 6.6 times more likely to test positive for the coronavirus.

An additional 10,003 Utahns were fully vaccinated in the past three days, bringing the total to 1,652,720, or 50.05% of Utah’s total population.

Vaccine doses administered in the last three days / total doses administered • 16,990 / 3,389,704.

Fully vaccinated utahns • 1,652,720.

Cases reported in the last three days • 3 393

Deaths reported in the last three days • 17.

There have been six deaths in Salt Lake County – two men aged 25 to 44; a man 45-64; a man and a woman 65-84 years old; and a man aged 85 and over.

Washington County has reported three deaths – a man aged 25 to 44 and a man and woman aged 85 and older.

Three counties each reported two deaths – a man and a woman aged 65 to 84 in Iron County; a woman aged 65 to 84 and a man aged 85 and over in Juab County; and a man aged 45 to 64 and a man aged 85 and over in Weber County.

A Davis County man aged 65 to 84 and a Utah County man aged 25 to 44 also died.

Tests reported in the last three days • 24,866 people were tested for the first time. A total of 43,043 people were tested.

Hospitalizations reported in the last three days • 577. It’s 15 less than Friday. Of those currently hospitalized, 233 are in intensive care – eight more than Friday.

Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 13.6% over the last three days. This is slightly lower than the seven-day average of 13.8%.

The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeat testing of the same individual. Monday’s rate was 7.9%, below the seven-day average of 10.2%.

[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]

Totals to date • 494,378 cases; 2,804 deaths; 21,475 hospitalizations; 3,363,259 people tested.

According to UDOH, Utah has experienced 14,902 “groundbreaking” cases of COVID-19 – people who contracted the virus two weeks or more after being fully vaccinated. That’s 0.9% of people who are fully vaccinated.

Of that number, 787 had to be hospitalized – 0.047% of those fully vaccinated. And there were 87 deaths – 0.005% of those fully vaccinated.

– Tribune reporter Courtney Tanner contributed to this story.

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