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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's number of COVID-19 cases increased by 519 on Friday, with two more deaths and 30,300 vaccinations reported, according to the Utah Department of Health.
The state now estimates there are 12,601 active cases of the disease in Utah. The rolling seven-day average number of positive cases per day is now at 519, according to the health department. The positive test rate per day for that time period reported with the "people over people" method is now 8.4%. The positive test rate per day seven-day average calculated with the "test over test" method is now 4%.
There are 184 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 67 in intensive care, state data shows. About 69% of intensive care unit beds in Utah are filled, including about 72% of ICU beds in the state's 16 referral hospitals, according to the health department. About 55% of non-ICU hospital beds in Utah are now filled, state data shows.
A total of 967,481 vaccines have been administered in the state, up from 936,681 Thursday. There are now 641,951 Utahns who have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 348,650 are now fully vaccinated, state data shows. A total of 1,157,345 vaccine doses have now been shipped to Utah.
The new numbers indicate a 0.1% increase in positive cases since Thursday. Of the 2,279,263 people tested for COVID-19 in Utah so far, 16.6% have tested positive for the disease. The number of total tests conducted since the beginning of the pandemic is now at 3,984,895, up 13,535 since Thursday. Of those, 5,780 were tests of people who had not previously been tested for COVID-19.
The two deaths reported Friday were both Salt Lake County men who were hospitalized when they died. One was over the age of 85 and the other was between the ages of 45 and 64, according to the health department.
Friday's totals give Utah 377,492 total confirmed cases, with 15,049 total hospitalizations and 2,017 total deaths from the disease. A total of 362,874 Utah COVID-19 cases are now considered recovered, according to state data.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox provided a COVID-19 pandemic update at a news conference Thursday.
SLC mayor calls for vaccines for essential workers
Cox said Thursday that he doesn't anticipate opening up vaccine eligibility for any other specific groups before all Utah adults become eligible for the vaccine on April 1.
That means essential workers won't be eligible for the vaccines until the general population is starting next month, the governor added.
Friday, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall called for the governor to open the vaccine eligibility for essential workers immediately, since the statewide mask mandate will expire on April 10.
"Whether they're working at our grocery stores, our restaurants or our bars, their risk exposure is high," Mendenhall said in a tweet. "And beginning April 10, these workers are at risk of being required to interact with a maskless public before many of them are even eligible to be vaccinated."
The state needs to move essential workers who interact with the public up in the vaccine priority line – out of respect for their health, the health of their families and the incredible job they've been doing all pandemic long. #utpol#slcpic.twitter.com/eMW4MFqo4j
— Mayor Erin Mendenhall (@slcmayor) March 12, 2021
Cox pointed out Thursday that individual businesses have the right to require masks in their establishments after the April 10 expiration. That date was set through House Bill 294, which passed through both bodies of the Utah State Legislature with a veto-proof majority.
Mendenhall said the state should work to get those essential workers vaccinated as soon as possible out of respect for the health of them and their families.
"The state needs to move them up in the vaccine priority line," Mendenhall said. "These are the people who kept our world turning when everything else stopped. They need our thanks and they need our support."
Methodology:
See more details about KSL.com's COVID-19 data and methodology by clicking this link.
More information about Utah's health guidance levels is available at coronavirus.utah.gov/utah-health-guidance-levels.
Information is from the Utah Department of Health and coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts. For more information on how the Utah Department of Health compiles and reports COVID-19 data, visit coronavirus.utah.gov/case-counts and scroll down to the "Data Notes" section at the bottom of the page.
