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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah health officials confirmed 1,253 new COVID-19 cases and eight new deaths on Thursday.
School-age children accounted for 282 of the latest cases — 117 cases were ages 5-10, 87 cases were 11-13, and 78 cases were 14-17, according to a daily updated provided by the Utah Department of Health.
The rolling, seven-day average for positive tests is 1,311 per day, and the average for percent positivity of "people over people" is 15.7%.
Health care workers administered 9,041 additional vaccine doses since Wednesday's report, bringing total doses given in Utah to 3,595,117. Now 53.7% of all Utahns are fully vaccinated, and 66.4% age 12 and older are fully vaccinated, according to the data.
In the last 28 days, unvaccinated residents have faced 13.1 times greater risk of dying from COVID-19, 11.3 times greater risk of being hospitalized, and 6.2 times greater risk of testing positive for the coronavirus than vaccinated people.
Since Feb. 1, people who are unvaccinated are at nine times greater risk of dying from COVID-19, 7.6 times greater risk of being hospitalized, and four times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 than vaccinated people, state data shows.
Of the cases reported Thursday, 347 were confirmed as "breakthrough" cases, meaning they had been fully vaccinated more than two weeks ago. The state also confirmed 15 new breakthrough hospitalizations and three breakthrough deaths, according to the data.
State health officials and doctors have noted receiving the vaccine does not mean someone will not contract the coronavirus, but in most cases it is protective against serious illness. The vaccine also does not cause a person to get COVID-19.
Since vaccines became available to the public early this year, the state has confirmed 22,528 breakthrough cases, 1,138 breakthrough hospitalizations and 155 breakthrough deaths.
On Thursday, 573 patients were hospitalized across Utah with the disease, a decrease of 51 since the previous day.
The latest deaths include:
- A Davis County man between the ages of 45 and 64, who was hospitalized when he died.
- A Utah County woman, 25-44, hospitalized.
- A Tooele County man, 65-84, hospitalized.
- A Salt Lake County man, 65-84, hospitalized.
- A Salt Lake County man, older than 85, long-term care facility resident.
- A Box Elder County man, 65-84, hospitalized.
- A Uintah County man, 65-84, not hospitalized.
- A Cache County man, 25-44, hospitalized.
