Utah reports 467 other coronavirus cases Saturday.
(File photo by Francisco Kjolseth | Tribune) Nurse Julia Paas, right, goes over information with Betsy Altschuler as she prepares to receive her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the Utah Film Studios in Park City on Thursday, April 18. March 2021.
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Another 467 Utahns tested positive for the coronavirus, state health officials reported Saturday, but the number of people hospitalized and seriously ill with the disease has dropped in the past day.
The daily test positivity rate was slightly below the seven-day average, although an infectious disease doctor on Friday expressed concern that the state’s daily case count could be stabilizing rather than continuing to decline and encouraged the People not to let their guard down just yet.
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said Saturday she does not rule out trying to pass a local mask mandate after April 10, when state requirements for face coverage would cease under a bill recently passed by the Legislature. from Utah. The measure, which has yet to be signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox, would allow county and city councils to enact their own mandates, but those would also expire as soon as the state meets certain benchmarks for containing the virus. .
Utah is already close to meeting the thresholds set out in the bill.
Wilson said the most likely scenario for a countywide mandate would be if the health department recommends one and the county council approves it.
“We are currently working on those options and waiting for the bill to pass,” he said.
The state’s two top local leaders are now in a similar stance when it comes to the possibility of enacting mask mandates after April 10, and Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said earlier this week that the City attorneys are evaluating the option. Mendenhall has also called on local businesses to continue to enforce the masks until public health officials say it is safe to do without them, and Wilson said he supports this advice.
Vaccine dose administered on the last day / total doses administered • 25,861 / 1,137,046.
Fully vaccinated Utahns • 413,058.
Cases reported the day before • 467.
Deaths reported the day before • two.
Davis County reported only one death: a man between the ages of 65 and 84.
One death was reported in Weber County, a man between the ages of 65 and 85.
Hospitalizations reported the day before • 160. That’s 16 less than on Friday. Of those currently hospitalized, 57 are in intensive care units, four fewer than on Friday.
Tests reported the day before • 6,451 people were tested for the first time. A total of 14,990 people were evaluated.
Percentage of positive tests • Under the state’s original method, the rate is 7.1%. That’s lower than the seven-day average of 8.1%.
His new method counts all test results, including repeated tests on the same individual. Saturday’s rate is now 3.1%, lower than 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 • 381,254 cases; 2,060 deaths; 15,267 hospitalizations; 2,327,182 people tested.
– Tribune reporter Leia Larsen contributed to this report.