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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah again smashed its record counts for new COVID-19 cases on Thursday as health officials reported 12,990.
The rolling, seven-day average for new cases is 9,564 per day, and the average positive rate of people tested is 36.5%, the Utah Department of Health said. Since the previous day's report, 25,650 people were tested for the coronavirus.
Seven additional deaths were also reported.
On Thursday, the state also had its highest number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 at once — 638. That is an increase of 30 since the previous day's report, which was also the previous record. Referral intensive care units that can treat the most serious patients were 90.5% full, and overall ICU use stood at 88.7%.
Last week, hospitals across the state announced they are delaying some unnecessary procedures to preserve hospital capacity due to the surge in cases.
School-age children accounted for 3,007 of the cases reported Thursday — 797 cases were ages 5-10, 659 cases were ages 11-13, and 1,551 cases were ages 14-17.
Health care workers administered about 12,200 vaccine doses since the previous day. Now, 64% of Utahns ages 5 and older are considered fully vaccinated as they have received the original two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or the original dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. Meanwhile, 37.9% of residents have received a booster shot.
Of the new cases, 5,757 were "breakthrough," among people who had been fully vaccinated more than two weeks before they tested positive for the disease. One death was also breakthrough. Now 108,952 breakthrough cases and 394 breakthrough deaths have been reported in Utah since vaccines became available.
Since the start of the pandemic, Utah has seen 739,206 cases and 3,943 deaths due to COVID-19. As of Thursday, 115,901 people in Utah are estimated to have active coronavirus infections. The death rate of confirmed cases now stands at 0.53%.
The latest deaths include:
- A Davis County woman between the ages of 45 and 64, who was hospitalized when she died.
- A Davis County woman, 25-44, long-term care facility resident.
- A Salt Lake County woman, 65-84, hospitalized.
- A Utah County man, older than 85, hospitalized.
- A Wasatch County man, 65-84, hospitalized.
- A Washington County woman, 25-44, hospitalized.
