UTAH, Dec. 15, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Department of Health on Wednesday reported the first known COVID-19 death of a child.
According to limited data released, the victim was a Davis County boy between age 1 and 14, and he was hospitalized at the time of death.
Dr. Leisha Nole, state epidemiologist at the Utah Department of Health, released the following statement:
“Children who get COVID-19 can get really sick, and unfortunately, as we are reporting today, can die,” she wrote.
“This is a tragic reminder that COVID-19 is still spreading in our communities and is still causing preventable deaths. Vaccines help prevent serious illness and death. Please, if you or your child haven’t been vaccinated yet, now is the time.”
The statement was released with the daily report of numbers, which follows.
The Utah Department of Health reports 15 known coronavirus deaths and 1,306 newly confirmed cases since the last report, which was Tuesday.
That brings total known Utah cases since the beginning of the pandemic to 615,576. Total documented deaths here stand at 3,688.
Of the new cases, 194 were in school-aged children: 86 cases in children ages 5 through 10, 46 cases in children ages 11 through 13, and 62 cases in children ages 14 through 17 since yesterday.
The 15 who died, all but one while hospitalized, were:
- A Box Elder County man between 65 and 84, hospitalized
- A Davis County boy between 1 and 14, hospitalized
- A Davis County woman between 45 and 64, hospitalized
- A Davis County man between 45 and 64, hospitalized
- A Davis County woman, older than 85, hospitalized
- A Grand County man between 65 and 84, hospitalized
- An Iron County man between 65 and 84, hospitalized
- A Juab County man between 65 and 84, hospitalized
- A Salt Lake County man between 45 and 64, hospitalized
- A Salt Lake County woman between 65 and 84, hospitalized
- A Salt Lake County man, older than 85, hospitalized
- A San Juan County woman between 65 and 84, hospitalized
- A Utah County man between 65 and 84, not hospitalized
- A Utah County woman, older than 85, hospitalized
- A Washington County man between 45 and 64, hospitalized
Vaccines
The Utah Department of Health reports 4,375,884 total vaccines administered, which is 47,790 more than Monday.
Vaccinated vs Unvaccinated Risk Ratio:
In the last 28 days, people who are unvaccinated are at 14.9 times greater risk of dying from COVID-19, 9.5 times greater risk of being hospitalized due to COVID-19, and 3.7 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 than vaccinated people.
Since Feb. 1, 2021, people who are unvaccinated are at 6.7 times greater risk of dying from COVID-19, 5.6 times greater risk of being hospitalized due to COVID-19, and 2.5 times greater risk of testing positive for COVID-19 than vaccinated people.
UDoH reports 4,102,888 people tested, which is an increase of 9,418 people tested since Tuesday.
It reports 7,518,171 total tests, an increase of 18,554 tests since yesterday.
Trends
The rolling seven-day average for positive tests is 1,090 per day.
The rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “people over people” is 13.7%. The rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of “tests over tests” is 9.2%.
There are 514 people currently hospitalized with COVID-19. Total hospitalizations from the beginning of the outbreak are 26,822.
The chart below shows Utah’s COVID-19 numbers broken down by area of the state.
