SALT LAKE CITY – As Utah enters the final hours before a nationwide mask mandate ends at the end of the day, the number of COVID-19 cases in the state has increased by 444, with nine more deaths and 46,995 vaccinations, according to the department Utah. of Health.
As outlined in Bill 294, Utah House, also known as the “endgame” pandemic bill, no masks are needed in most institutions after Friday. Masks will still be needed in K-12 schools, at gatherings of 50 or more people, at private businesses that still need them, and a limited number of other institutions. Grand County and Salt Lake City also chose to keep mask mandates in place.
Health officials urged people to continue wearing masks after the mandate was lifted.
“Until more people get the chance to be vaccinated, we call on people to continue wearing masks in public places and around those who have not yet been vaccinated,” said Richard Saunders, executive director of the department. of health, said in a news release Friday. “We have come this far and are so close to returning to normal. We ask for your patience and cooperation for a while.”
According to the Department of Health, there are an estimated 8876 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah. According to the Department of Health, the current average number of positive cases per day of seven days is now at 402. The positive test rate per day for the period calculated using the “people over people” method is now 7%. The positive test rate per day for that period calculated using the “test over test” method is now 3.4%.
There are currently 140 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Utah, including 55 in intensive care. About 70% of the beds in Utah’s intensive care unit have been occupied since Friday, including about 72% of the ICU beds in the 16 referral hospitals in the state, according to state data. About 54% of the non-ICU hospital beds are inhabited in Utah.
A total of 1,650,850 doses of vaccine were administered in the state, compared to 1,603,855 on Thursday. A total of 1,068,003 Utahns have now received at least one vaccine dose, while 649,354 have now been fully vaccinated. A total of 1,919,610 vaccine doses have been sent to the state so far.
The new numbers point to a 0.1% increase in positive cases since Thursday. Of the 2,436,569 people tested so far for COVID-19 in Utah, 16% tested positive for COVID-19. The number of tests started since the pandemic is now 4,352,241, which has risen 12,293 since Thursday. Of these, 5,264 were tests of people who had not previously been tested for COVID-19.
The nine deaths reported on Friday were:
- A Cache County man over the age of 85 who was not hospitalized when he died
- A Davis County man over the age of 85 who was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Davis County woman over the age of 85 who was a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Salt Lake County woman who was between 65 and 84 years old and a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Salt Lake County woman who was over 85 and a resident of a long-term care facility
- A Salt Lake County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and was not hospitalized when she died
- A Salt Lake County man over the age of 85 who was not hospitalized when he died
- A Salt Lake County man who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not admitted to the hospital when he died
- A Weber County woman who was between the ages of 65 and 84 and a resident of a long-term care facility
Eight of the deaths occurred before March 18, but are still being investigated by medical investigators, the health department said. One death of a Salt Lake County woman previously reported on Feb. 21 has been removed from the total count after further investigation, health officials said.
Friday’s total gives 389,353 total confirmed cases in Utah, with 15,728 total hospitalizations and 2,157 total deaths due to the disease. According to the Department of Health, an estimated 378,320 COVID-19 cases are now being repaired in Utah.
No COVID-19 news conference is scheduled for this week.
In addition to the end of the state-wide mask mandate, HB294 also requires that all state and local health orders related to COVID-19 end on the day Utah reaches the threshold in three key statistics: the state’s 14-day case rate is less 191 per 100,000 people, the average of seven days of using the intensive care unit COVID-19 is less than 15% and 1,633,000 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were allocated to Utah.
As of Friday, the 14-day business rate of the state per 100,000 people is now 176.5 and the usage average of the COVID-19 ICU is about 9.9%, according to state data. Utah still has a long way to go to reach the threshold for the first dose of vaccine: 992,325 prime doses were awarded to Utah this week. It is expected to exceed 1,633,000 in the second or third week of May, health officials say.
The first dose of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, as well as the only dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine, are considered primary doses.
As the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine is only given once a week, the number of people who have received one dose of vaccine is more than the primary dose administered, because it is available every day on the coronavirus website of the state is updated. While the state reported Friday that 1,068,003 Utahns received at least one dose of the vaccine, the allotment of the main dose remains at 992,325 for this week.