SALT LAKE CITY – As Utah enters the final hours before the end of the state mask term at the end of Friday, the number of COVID-19 cases in the state increased by 444, with nine more deaths and 46,995 reported vaccinations , according to the Utah Department of Health.
As described in Utah House Bill 294, also known as the “final” pandemic bill, no masks will be required in most settings after Friday. Masks will still be needed in K-12 schools, in meetings of 50 or more people, in private companies that still require it, and in a limited number of other settings. Grand County and Salt Lake City have also opted to keep mask warrants in place.
Health officials urged people to continue wearing masks after the warrant was lifted.
“Until more people have the opportunity to get vaccinated, we urge people to continue wearing masks in and around public places that have not been vaccinated,” health department executive director Richard Saunders said Friday. “We’ve come this far and we’re so close to getting back to normal. We ask for your patience and cooperation for a while longer.”
According to the health department, there are an estimated 8,876 active cases of COVID-19 in Utah. According to the health department, the average number of positive cases per day seven days a day is 402. The positive test rate per day for this time period calculated using the “people on people” method is now 7% . The positive test rate per day for this time period calculated with the “test over test” method is now 3.4%.
There are currently 140 COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in Utah, including 55 in intensive care, according to state data. About 70 percent of Utah’s intensive care beds are occupied as of Friday, including about 72 percent of the ICU beds at the state’s 16 reference hospitals, according to state data. About 54% of non-ICU hospital beds are occupied in Utah.
A total of 1,650,850 doses of vaccine have been administered in the state, compared to 1,603,855 on Thursday. A total of 1,068,003 Utahns have received at least one dose of vaccine, while 649,354 are fully vaccinated. To date, a total of 1,919,610 doses of vaccine have been sent to the state.
The new figures indicate a 0.1% increase in positive cases since Thursday. Of the 2,436,569 people tested so far by COVID-19 in Utah, 16% tested positive for COVID-19. The total number of tests conducted since the pandemic began is now 4,352,241, an increase of 12,293 since Thursday. Of these, 5,264 were tests from people who had not been previously tested for COVID-19.
The nine deaths reported on Friday were:
- A Cache County man who was over 85 and who was not hospitalized when he died
- A Davis County man who was over 85 years old and resided in a long-term care center
- A woman from Davis County who was over 85 years old and resided in a long-term care center
- A Salt Lake County woman who was between 65 and 84 years old and resided in a long-term care center
- A woman from Salt Lake County who was over 85 years old and resided in a long-term care center
- A Salt Lake County woman who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when she died
- A Salt Lake County man who was over 85 and was not hospitalized when he died
- A Salt Lake County man who was between 65 and 84 years old and was not hospitalized when he died
- A Weber County woman who was between 65 and 84 years old and resided in a long-term care center
Eight of the deaths occurred before March 18, but were still being investigated by forensic doctors, according to the health department. A previously reported death in a Salt Lake County woman on Feb. 21 has been removed from the total count after a new investigation, health officials said.
Friday’s total gives Utah 389,353 confirmed cases in total, with 15,728 total hospitalizations and 2,157 deaths from the disease. According to the health department, an estimated 378,320 cases of COVID-19 in Utah are recovering.
There is no COVID-19 press conference scheduled for this week.
In addition to the end of the state mask mandate, HB294 also requires that all local and state health orders related to COVID-19 end on the day Utah reaches the threshold in three key metrics: the 14-day case rate of the state is less than 191 per 100,000 people, the average seven-day use of the COVID-19 intensive care unit is less than 15%, and 1,633,000 thin doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been assigned to Utah .
As of Friday, the state’s 14-day case rate per 100,000 people is now 176.5 and the average ICU COVID-19 use is about 9.9%, according to data state. Utah has a long way to go to reach the threshold for the allocation of the main vaccine dose: 992,325 main doses have been allocated in Utah as of this week. It is expected to grow 1,633,000 in the second or third week of May, health officials say.
The first dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, as well as the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, are considered major doses.
Because the main dose allocation of the COVID-19 vaccine is updated only once a week, the number of people who have received a dose of vaccine often exceeds the main dose allocation, because it is updated every day on the state coronavirus website. Although the state reported Friday that 1,068,003 Utahns have received at least one dose of the vaccine, the main dose allocation remains at 992,325 for this week.