SALT LAKE CITY — Utah announced another 2,146 COVID-19 cases and an additional 26 deaths from the virus Tuesday as an adviser to President-elect Joe Biden warned Utahns the worst days of the deadly pandemic are still ahead.
The state’s latest numbers show an increase of 11,991 Utahns tested since Monday, with rolling seven-day averages for positive tests now at 2,946 per day and 29.3% for percent of positive laboratory tests.
A total of more than 1.84 million Utahns have been tested since the pandemic began last March.
The same day immunizations got underway for Utah teachers and school staffs, a daily increase of 6,983 vaccinations was reported, bringing the total number of doses distributed in the state since the first doses arrived in mid-December to 110,530, according to a Utah Department of Health survey.
In Farmington, Davis School District employees lined up in their cars at a daylong, drive-thru vaccination clinic at the Legacy Events Center. For Bountiful High School sophomore English teacher Chera Fernelius, the opportunity to get a shot “felt like a nod of respect to educators that we don’t feel like we’ve had for a while.”
Teachers and school staffs were put right behind front-line hospital and other health care workers, and long-term care facility residents and employees for the vaccine by former Gov. Gary Herbert, a decision that Fernelius said will help protect her high-risk parents who take care of her three children several days a week.
“I just feel more comfortable,” the part-time teacher, 41, who suffers from mild asthma, said after receiving the first dose of the vaccine. “It’s just a huge relief. I feel safer being in the classroom. There’s a layer of protection besides a mask.”
Gov. Spencer Cox, who laid out plans to speed up vaccinations in the state shortly after taking office, has called for older Utahns and those with medical conditions that put them at risk for contracting the virus to be prioritized going forward.
Next week, Utahns 70 and older will get their turn to be inoculated and health districts throughout the state, including Salt Lake County, are expected to begin taking appointments as soon as Wednesday, online and by phone.
A member of Biden’s COVID-19 task force, Dr. Julie Morita, advised Utahns during a virtual health care conference that they still need to wear masks, social distance and take other precautions against the spread of the deadly virus even though vaccines are being administered in the state.
“I wish there was just one thing we could all do, the silver bullet that would take care of everybody, but there really isn’t. So it’s really important to do all these things and get vaccinated,” Morita said in a keynote address to the Utah Health Policy Project’s annual Health Care Solutions for Utahns conference.
Morita, a former Chicago Department of Public Health commissioner who now serves as executive vice president of the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, the nation’s largest public health philanthropy, said the toughest times in the battle against the coronavirus are yet to come.
“Regarding the hospitalization and death rates we need to be honest. Things are going to get worse before they get better. And the pandemic is as bad as it’s ever been. Already, more than 22 million people have been infected” nationwide, she said, noting Utah is currently among the states with the highest rates of infection and death.
Biden “will do everything possible to change the course of the pandemic,” Morita said, citing the president-elect’s pledge to administer 100 million doses of the vaccine in his first 100 days, releasing all available supplies once he takes office on Jan. 20 rather than holding back second doses.
She expressed confidence enough vaccine can be produced to ensure no one misses a “timely” second dose, recommended three to four weeks after the first, and said “a massive campaign” will be launched to encourage immunizations.
Outgoing President Donald Trump failed to deliver on a promise of getting 20 million Americans vaccinated by the end of the year, Morita said. As of the start of the week, 9 million of the 25 million doses delivered to the states have been administered.
Later Tuesday, Trump administration officials announced second doses are being released and urged states to expand vaccine eligibility to those 65 and older as well as those with underlying medical conditions. Also, vaccine allocations to states will soon be based on the number of older residents and the pace of vaccinations.
As key as vaccinations are to getting the pandemic under control, Morita said, “the reality is vaccines are limited in supply so not everyone who wants a vaccine or should get a vaccine will be able to get it right away,” advising that while those who are high risk should be prioritized, access should be opened up as more doses are available.
The new Democratic administration is sending a COVID-19 funding package to Congress that will also include money for personal protective equipment so most schools can reopen safely, as well as money to ramp up testing, while asking all Americans to wear masks during those first 100 days, Morita said.
There are 560 people now hospitalized with the virus in Utah, with the total number of hospitalizations in the state hitting 12,059. Utah’s death toll has reached 1,422 with the report of 26 new deaths, including 15 that occurred prior to Dec. 22.
The latest deaths reported are:
• Three Utah County women, all between 65 and 84, and all long-term care facility residents.
• Three Salt Lake County women, all older than 85, one a long-term care facility resident and two others who were hospitalized when they died.
• A Salt Lake County woman, 45-64, hospitalized at time of death.
• Two Salt Lake County women between 65 and 84, one a long-term care facility resident and the other who was not hospitalized when she died.
• Three Salt Lake County men between 65 and 84, one who was long-term care facility resident and two others who were hospitalized.
• A Salt Lake County man, older than 85, long-term care facility resident.
• A Weber County man, older than 85, not hospitalized.
• Two Weber County women, one 65-84 and one older than 85, both long-term care facility residents.
• A Utah County woman, older than 85, long-term care facility resident.
• Two Davis County women, one 65-84 and one older than 85, both long-term care facility residents.
• A Davis County man, 65-84, long-term care facility resident.
• A Millard County woman, 45-64, long-term care facility resident.
• A Washington County woman, older than 85, not hospitalized.
• A Washington County man, older than 85, long-term care facility resident.
• A Tooele County man, 65-84, long-term care facility resident.
• A Iron County man, older than 85, long-term care facility resident.
• A Cache County man, older than 85, hospitalized.
