The state reports one more death caused by the coronavirus.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Nurse Ashley Hafer fills syringes with the Modern Vaccine for People lined up on Thursday, March 18, 2021, while Utah Film Studios leases its space to the Summit County Health Department as at COVID -19 vaccination station.
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Utah closes three-quarters of the million people fully vaccinated against coronavirus, which is now nearly 742,000.
The state also reported one more death on Thursday. Although the number of new cases remained relatively high (more than 450), there have only been three deaths from COVID-19 in the last five days.
Dose of vaccines administered last day / total doses administered • 40,578 / 1,808,824.
Fully vaccinated Utahns • 741,819.
Cases reported last day • 456.
Deaths reported last day • One: A 45- to 64-year-old woman in Salt Lake County.
Tests reported last day • 7,124 people were tested for the first time. A total of 18,714 people were tested.
Hospitalizations reported last day • 146. This has gone down two from Wednesday. Of those currently hospitalized, 57 they are in intensive care units: two less than on Wednesday.
Percentage of positive tests • According to the original method of the state, the rate is 6.4%. This is below the seven-day average of 7.4%.
The new state method counts all test results, including repeated tests by the same individual. Tuesday’s rate was 2.4%, down from the seven-day average of 3.7%.
[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]
Total so far • 391,633 cases; 2,162 dead; 15,859 hospitalizations; 2,470,828 people tested.
Governor Spencer Cox on Thursday issued an executive order eliminating the 90-day waiting period for people who have had COVID-19 to get vaccinated. The news release attached to the order notes that the Utah Department of Health recommends that people recover completely before receiving the vaccine.