The state recorded 53 deaths in two days.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The University of Utah Health begins to administer the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine while pharmacy resident Chanah Gallagher prepares to give Christy Mulder, an RN at MICU, his second dose on Thursday, January 7, 2021.
The state is close to 90% of the capacity of its intensive care beds – 482 of the 537 beds are occupied (89.8%). And 40.2% of ICU patients are hospitalized with COVID-19.
But the percentage of positive COVID-19 tests dropped to 23.62% after hovering around 30% in the last week.
Vaccinations reported the day before / total vaccinations • 14,354 / 124,884.
Cases reported the previous day • 2,899.
Deaths reported the day before • 27
Deaths reported on Wednesday • Nine of the deaths reported on Wednesday occurred before December 23 and are now being reported because, according to the Utah Department of Health, the Office of the Medical Examiner “conducts thorough investigations of all potential COVID-related deaths” , which “can take several weeks to complete.”
All but five deaths were from people aged 65 and over.
There were nine deaths in Washington County, the youngest being a woman between 25 and 44 years old. A man and a woman were between 45 and 64 years old, and two men and a woman were between 65 and 84 years old. Two men and a woman were over 85 years old.
There were six deaths in Utah County. Two men were between 45 and 64 years old and two men were between 65 and 84 years old. A man and a woman were over 85 years old.
Several counties have reported two deaths: Salt Lake County, a man aged 45 to 64 and a woman aged 65 to 84; Tooele County, two women aged 65 to 84; Uintah County, a man and woman aged 65 to 84; and Weber County, a 65-84-year-old man and woman.
There was one death in each one in Carbon County (a man aged 65 to 84); Davis County (a man over 85); Iron County (a woman aged 65 to 84); and Juab County (a woman over 85).
Hospitalizations reported the previous day • 566. That means six as of Tuesday. Of those currently in hospital, 194 are in intensive care units – seven more than on Tuesday.
Tests reported the day before • 12,272.
Percentage of positive tests • 23.62%. This is less than the seven-day average of 27.8%.
Totals to date • 314,817 cases; 1,449 deaths; 12,160 hospitalizations; 1,855,385 tests.
UDOH changed the way it reports positive cases on Wednesday, adding 2,289 pending cases to the state’s grand total of 314,817, in addition to the 2,899 new cases reported the previous day.
Some of these older cases were identified in June 2020, but were not included in the department’s case counts because of incomplete or unverified address information for people who tested positive. Starting on Wednesday, UDOH will report all positive tests, unless the person can be verified as not being a Utah resident.