The number of new COVID-19 cases in Utah jumps to almost 700

The state also reports five more deaths.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Irene Stukshis administers the Covid -19 vaccine to Stephan Rich at the Mountain America Expo site in Sandy on Monday, March 8, 2021.

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New cases of COVID-19 are increasing again in Utah. Since hitting a nine-month low of 221 on Monday, that number has more than doubled to 481 on Tuesday – and jumped to 699 on Wednesday.

The number of hospitalizations has also increased and five more deaths have been reported by the Utah Department of Health. Four of the five deaths occurred before February 17 and have only recently been confirmed to be related to the coronavirus.

Vaccine doses administered the previous day / total doses administered • 27,654 / 1,054,727.

Fully vaccinated Utahns • 384,054.

Cases reported the day before • 699.

Deaths reported the day before • Five.

The deaths were: A woman aged 85 and over in Salt Lake County; a 45- to 64-year-old man in San Juan County; a 65- to 84-year-old woman in Utah County; a 65-84 year old man in Washington County; and a 65- to 84-year-old woman in Weber County.

Hospitalizations reported the previous day • 180. It is nine more compared to Tuesday. Of those currently hospitalized, 63 are in intensive care units – eight more than on Tuesday.

Tests reported the day before • 8,666 people were tested for the first time. A total of 19,892 people were tested.

Percentage of positive tests • In the original state method, the rate is 8.1%. This is almost the same as the 8.3% seven-day average.

His new method counts all test results, including repeated tests from the same individual. Wednesday’s rate is now at 3.5%, below the seven-day average of 4.1%.

[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]

Totals to date • 379,780 cases; 2,037 deaths; 15,198 hospitalizations; 2,307,238 people tested.

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