SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake County boy is the first Utahn under 18 years old to die from COVID-19.
He was between 1 and 14 years old and was hospitalized at the time of his death, according to the Utah Department of Health, but it released no other details. The child was one of 13 additional deaths from the virus reported in Utah Tuesday,
“There has been a lot of good news recently with case counts and vaccines, but this death is a sad reminder that COVID-19 is not to be taken lightly and that it’s still important to take the appropriate precautions to limit its spread,” state health department spokesman Tom Hudachko said.
A Salt Lake County Health Department spokesman echoed that sentiment.
“We have no further comment due to medical privacy laws, but this is a tragic reminder that we must continue to be vigilant about public health precautions,” spokesman Gabe Moreno said.
Salt Lake and several other counties moved last week from the high to moderate risk category, a state designation that permits large public gatherings such as sporting events and concerts without physical distancing but still requires that masks be worn.
Utah’s death toll is nearing 2,000. With the 13 additional deaths reported Tuesday, which includes nine that occurred before Feb. 1, the number of Utahns who have lost their lives to the virus has now reached 1,990. The majority of those deaths, more than 1,000, have been Utahns aged 65-84.
The state’s coronavirus.utah.gov website lists fewer than five deaths among Utahns up to 1 year old and the same statistic for those between 1 and 14 years olds. But Hudachko said the death reported Tuesday is the first for a Utahn under 18 years old.
Nationwide, there have been 208 deaths from COVID-19 among children and teenagers up to 17 years old, 122 males and 86 females, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, based on data through March 3.
More than 526,000 Americans have died from the virus in the past year.
There are 560 new cases of COVID-19 in Utah, bringing the total number of cases to date in the state to 375,669.
Monday, the first day Utahns 50 to 64, as well as those with some additional medical conditions, were eligible for vaccinations, another 20,737 doses were administered, bringing the total of first and second doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and single doses of the newest vaccine available from Johnson & Johnson, to 878,487.
The state has been vaccinating front-line hospital health care workers since mid-December, adding all health care workers, long-term care facility residents and staff, K-12 teachers and school staffs, and then older Utahns as well as those with a broader list of specified medical conditions.
COVID-19 testing continues throughout the state, with the rolling seven-day average for positive tests at 529 per day. There were 6,185 Utahns tested and 16,450 tests conducted in Utah since Monday. Nearly 2.26 million Utahns have undergone more than 3.9 million tests.
The rolling seven-day average for percent positivity of those tests is 4.24% when all tests are included in the calculation, the state’s preferred method, and 8.8% when multiple tests by an individual over the past 90 days are excluded.
Currently, 187 people are hospitalized in Utah with COVID-19. The latest deaths reported are:
- A Juab County woman, between the ages of 45 and 64, who was not hospitalized at the time of death.
- A Salt Lake County boy, between 1 and 14 years old, who was hospitalized at the time of death.
- Two Salt Lake County women, older than 85, long-term care facility residents.
- Three Salt Lake County men, 65-84, one hospitalized, one not hospitalized, one a long-term care facility resident.
- A Utah County man, 65-84, not hospitalized.
- A Utah County man, older than 85, not hospitalized.
- A Washington County man, 65-84, long-term care facility resident.
- A Washington County man, older than 85, long-term care facility resident.
- A Weber County man, 65-84, long-term care facility resident.
- A Weber County woman, 45-64, long-term care facility resident.