Editor’s note: The Salt Lake Tribune offers free access to critical stories about the coronavirus. Sign up for our Top Stories newsletter, is sent to your mailbox every morning. To support journalism like this, please donate or become a subscriber.
Vaccines are flowing, deaths are lower and masks could be lowered soon. During the week in which Utah was under threat from the coronavirus for a year, the yoke of the pandemic began to lift.
This week, Utah recorded the fewest deaths attributed to COVID-19, over a seven-day period since late October. Since last Monday, 41 people have died from the virus, including one reported by the Utah Department of Health on Sunday. This is the lowest number of deaths since 19-25 October, a week in which 29 deaths occurred, and is less than half the count last week of 83. The highest was 116 from 7-13 December.
And the mortality rate – which ends in 2000 since the state had its first virus-related death on March 22, 2020 – must continue to decline due to two factors: more people are vaccinated and fewer people become very ill.
Government Spencer Cox on Thursday opened vaccinations for an even greater number of people, including all 50 years and older and those 18 and older with certain health conditions at a lower level. This is in addition to those 16 years and older with high-risk health conditions, teachers, health care workers, long-term care institutions, and first responders.
“This is the largest group we have ever added,” Cox said Thursday. ‘And we have more and more vaccinations in the state every week. Therefore, we feel comfortable doing so. ”
Utah has received 185,175 doses of vaccine in the past five days. This includes four days of 30,000 doses or more, plus an additional 400 on Sunday.
Some of them are the new vaccine Johnson & Johnson, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Feb. 27 and launched in Utah on Wednesday. It is a single-dose vaccine, as opposed to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that require a follow-up shot.
Armed with a portion of the state’s initial 23,000 Johnson & Johnson vaccines, Summit County took Cox’s step toward the wider distribution of vaccines even further. It has opened appointments for anyone 40 years and older, from any country previously registered with the Department of Health. Rich Bullough, the province’s health director, told the Park Record that individuals aged 50 and older would still be prioritized according to the state’s mandate.
“Instead of vaccinating fewer people,” Bullough told the Park Record, “I decided to vaccinate more people.”
Intermountain Healthcare has begun vaccinating those eligible under Cox’s plan to register on its website on Thursday, despite the governor’s request that the new group wait until Monday to avoid website accidents.
“It will not be possible for everyone in these areas to make an appointment right away,” Cox said Thursday. He advised people to ‘be patient, keep looking back’.
Perhaps the wait will be less heavy with the knowledge that fewer people will become seriously ill with the virus.
In addition to the lowest mortality rate in four months, the state sees the least number of patients in the intensive care units for COVID-19 in that period. ICU occupation is often used as an indication of future deaths. Currently, 191 people with the virus are hospitalized and 73 are in the ICU, the least since October 3rd.
The average daily business rate is also rising. In the past week, just over 500 cases have occurred per day, and that includes Wednesday’s 729 new cases. Health officials reported another 412 cases Sunday. In addition, experts believe that herd immunity in the state is approaching 30%.
But if the state is not careful, the positive gains can be short-lived.
Lawmakers approved a bill in the final hours of Friday’s legislative session that would end Utah’s stately mask mandate on April 10. Exceptions will be made for schools and for large public gatherings.
And Thursday, a bill allowing college and college students to attend personal classes, even if they were not vaccinated, was sent to the governor’s desk to be signed.
Brandon Webb, a physician for infectious diseases at Intermountain Healthcare, said the state is still under siege from COVID-19 and the more resilient variants recently discovered. He warned not to set aside masks and other precautions too soon.
Only when the number of Utahns vaccinated increases will the state ‘be able to pass on the baton safely from the things we do to our immunity.
“And now,” he said, “we are not there yet.”
Vaccinations administered in the past day / total vaccinations • 12,631 / 855,663.
Utahns fully vaccinated • 309,882.
Cases reported in the past day • 412.
Deaths reported in the past day • 1.
The only death reported was a Cache County man, 45-64 years old, who was hospitalized at the time of his death.
Hospitalizations reported in the past day • 191. It’s three from Saturday. Of those currently admitted to the hospital, 73 are in intensive care units – four less than on Saturday.
Tests reported in the past day • 4 427 people were tested for the first time. A total of 8,818 people were tested.
Percentage of positive tests • According to the state’s original method, the rate is 9.3%. This is slightly higher than the seven day average of 9.2%.
The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests of the same individual. Sunday’s rate is now 4.67%, higher than the seven-day average of 4.4%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Total to date • 374,850 cases; 1,976 deaths; 14,891 hospitalizations; 2,248,121 people were tested.
Correction • Sunday, March 7, 12:47 PM: An earlier version of this story contains an incorrect version of vaccinations that have been administered in Utah since Saturday.