SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Department of Health reported on Sunday 908 new cases of COVID-19 in the state.
The increase brings the total number of known infections to 354,608 in Utah since the pandemic that struck here almost a year ago.
There are currently 329 people being treated with COVID-19 in hospitals across Utah, which is six fewer than reported on Saturday and less than 413 hospitalized a week ago.
The decrease in the number of new cases, hospitalizations and deaths led to a lower average number of daily cases – 1,143 – and 15.6% of all positive COVID-19 tests. Last Sunday, the average percentage of positive tests was 16.9%.
The downward trend has continued for at least the past few weeks.
Utah health officials said a 3% to 5% test positivity rate is ideal and would mean that the spread of the infection was under control.
Cases dropped more than 16% from the previous week nationally, with less than 1 million new cases reported in one day, which has not happened since the first week of November, according to data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention from United States .
In addition to fewer new cases in Utah, the health department reported three more deaths. Sunday’s reports generally contain smaller numbers, as not all testing and vaccine facilities are open over the weekend.
The deaths reported on Sunday include a man from Tooele County who was over 85 years old and was hospitalized at the time of his death; a Utah county man between 45 and 64 who was hospitalized; and a 65- to 84-year-old woman from Weber County who was also hospitalized.
In all, COVID-19 took the lives of 1,736 people in Utah.
More than 2 million people were tested for the virus in Utah, including 5,845 more than reported on Saturday. The state has issued 413,937 COVID-19 vaccines, including an increase of 9,852 since Saturday’s reports.
More than 103,000 vaccines have been administered in the past week in Utah, while the program supervised by the state health department continues to grow.
Utah received nearly 500,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, as allocated by the federal government. At least 101,915 people in Utah received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to statistics from the state health department, meaning that almost 80,000 doses have yet to be used and are stored in Utah.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox said some of these doses are reserved for people who have taken the first dose and will soon receive the second. But the governor also said he is in favor of immunizing as many people as possible with the available supply, regardless of whether they are first or second doses.
For information on who is currently eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in Utah, visit coronavirus.utah.gov/vaccine.