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More than 30,000 Utahns received coronavirus vaccines on Thursday, as the total number of vaccinations approached 1 million. And the number of residents who have been fully immunized has reached nearly 340,000.
However, not all the news is good. The Utah Department of Health has reported two more deaths and the number of Utahn hospitalized with COVID-19 has jumped by 17.
Vaccinations given the previous day / total vaccinations • 30.300 / 967.481.
Fully vaccinated utahns • 339.743.
Cases reported in the last day • 519.
Deaths reported in the past day • Of them. Both were men from Salt Lake County: one aged 45 to 64, the other 85 and over.
Hospitalizations reported in the last day • 184. That’s 17 more than Thursday. Of those currently hospitalized, 66 are in intensive care units – unchanged from Thursday.
Tests reported the day before • 5,780 people were tested for the first time. A total of 13,535 people were tested.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the original state method, the rate is 9%. This is slightly above the seven-day average of 8.4%.
His new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Friday’s rate is now at 3.8%, below the seven-day average of 4.02%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Totals to date • 377,492 cases; 2,017 deaths; 15,049 hospitalizations; 2,279,263 people tested.
A leading Utah doctor said on Friday that the recent drop in the number of COVID-19 cases should give the Utahns hope, but he warned that the coronavirus may not follow timelines set by leaders policies.
“There is no difference between April 9 and April 10 – it’s a random date,” Dr. Todd Vento, medical director of Infectious Disease Telehealth Services at Intermountain Healthcare, said on Friday during the interview. Weekly briefing of the Intermountain community on Facebook Live.
April 10 is the date that Utah lawmakers decided to end statewide mask mandates, in a bill that was passed by both houses with a majority in the l veto test earlier this month. Governor Spencer Cox is expected to sign the bill, despite his reservations about it.
“I wouldn’t view April 10 as something different, from my own personal protection and the personal protection of others,” Vento said. “If I’m in public, I should probably be careful if I go to a place that now has 100% occupancy, and I don’t know their ventilation system, and people aren’t wearing masks.”
Cox also said that all adult Utahns will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine by April 1. President Joe Biden announced Thursday in a nationally televised address that he is ordering states to make the vaccine available to all adults by May 1.
These dates “are all very positive signs,” Vento said. The optimistic schedule “reflects the fact that they know the pipeline [for vaccines] has been significantly increased, ”he said.
Biden’s statement Thursday – that by July 4, “there’s a good chance that you, your families and friends can get together in your backyard or in your neighborhood and have a barbecue or barbecue and celebrate the day. of independence “- is another optimistic signal, says Vento.
“I thought he had said it in a way that put a point of hope there, something to aim for,” Vento said. “But also the caveat that ‘Hey, we’re not out of this yet’. … This is what we are looking for, but we still have work to do.
That work, Vento said, includes getting the vaccine when it’s available, and continuing to wear masks and practice social distancing – even when government rules are lifted.
“We all want the black and white answer,” Vento said. “It’s gray. This is the real world. This virus has changed so much and taught us [so much] – unfortunately to the detriment of individuals falling ill, dying and hospitalized.
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