Seventeen deaths added to Utah’s COVID-19 toll, as 651 new cases reported



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(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Science teacher Robert Campos wipes down his classroom desks as students return to Highland High School in Salt Lake City on Monday, February 8, 2021.

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The number of new COVID-19 cases remains low in Utah – 651 on Friday, the 13th day in the past two weeks, the number was below 1,000.

However, the state recorded 17 new deaths from the virus, although eight of them occurred before February 5. Hospitalizations and patients in intensive care units also increased slightly on Friday.

Doses of vaccine administered the previous day / total doses administered • 22.092 / 682.536.

Number of Utahn who received two doses • 239,877.

Cases reported the day before • 651.

Deaths reported the day before • 17; eight of them happened before February 5.

• Nine from Salt Lake County: two men between 45 and 64; one man and two women, each aged 65 to 84; two men and two women, each 85 years of age or older.

• Two residents of Utah County: a man 85 or older and a woman 45 to 64 years old.

• Two residents of Weber County: a man and a woman 85 years of age or older.

• Two men, 45-64 years old – one from Iron County, one from Tooele County.

• A woman from Uintah County aged 85 or older and a man from Washington County aged 65 to 84.

Hospitalizations reported the day before • 231. It’s 10 compared to Thursday. Of those currently hospitalized, 94 are in intensive care units – seven more than Thursday.

Tests reported the day before • 5,498 people were tested for the first time. A total of 15,599 people were tested.

Percentage of positive tests • Under the original state method, the rate is 11.8%. This is slightly lower than the seven-day average of 12.3%.

His new method counts all test results, including repeated testing of the same individual. Friday’s rate is now at 4.2%, below the seven-day average of 5.6%.

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

Totals to date • 370,084 cases; 1,907 deaths; 14,628 hospitalizations; 2,194,674 people tested; 3,781,119 tests performed.

Dr Mark Briesacher, chief medical officer of Intermountain Healthcare, said on Friday he was delighted that a third vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson, would be available in Utah as early as next week.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Briesacher said at Intermountain’s weekly COVID-19 community briefing on Facebook Live, is 85% effective in preventing severe cases – those that could lead to hospitalization or death. The Federal Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve emergency use of the new vaccine as early as Saturday.

“Does it prevent serious and critical illnesses? Does it prevent deaths? The answer to these things is ‘yes’, ”Briesacher said.

“It will be really great for Utah, overall, because it’s a simpler vaccine” than the Pfizer or Moderna versions now available, Briesacher said. “It’s only one dose. It is stored more easily. This gives us a lot of flexibility to focus on delivering these services fairly across the state. “

The prospect of three vaccines available for COVID-19 is a far cry from February 28, 2020 – a year ago this Sunday – when Briesacher attended the state’s first incident command meeting, “all focused on preparing to accept this first. [COVID-19] patties in Utah, ”he said.

“It has been a tough and difficult year,” said Briesacher. “We’re all going to look back this year and see it as one of the most difficult and rewarding times. … And yet we find ourselves in a really great place where there is a lot of optimism for the future.

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