Utah is seeing a spike in new hospitalizations from COVID-19 infections, with the state reporting 203 Utahns currently hospitalized — a jump from the 158 reported Thursday.
The Utah Department of Health also reported 309 new COVID-19 cases Friday and 14 additional coronavirus deaths.
But 10 of the 14 died over a month ago. Health department officials did not specify what caused the delay in 10 reported deaths that occurred prior to May 25.
Hospitalization data is often backlogged by a couple of days as hospitals report data to the state. Updated health department data shows there were 194 hospitalizations on Wednesday and 167 on Tuesday after it had dropped to 150 on Sunday.
Sixty-three of the 203 people are listed as being in intensive care unit beds. ICU bed space is 78% full statewide while referral center ICU beds are 80% full, according to health department data. Both percentages are above the state’s utilization warning rate but below the threshold that triggers most concern.
Meanwhile, Utah’s rolling seven-day average for positive cases in the state is now at 322 per day. The health department also reports that Utah’s seven-day average for percent positivity for “people over people” tests is now 9% while its seven-day average for “tests over tests” is now 6%.
The number of people getting vaccinated for COVID-19 continues to rise. The state health department reported 8,312 more vaccinations Friday. With that increase, 1,561,973 Utahns have now received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 1,376,548 Utahns are now fully vaccinated.
About 60.3% of Utahns 12 or older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while nearly 53.1% are fully vaccinated. It's now estimated that 48.7% of Utah's entire population has received at least one vaccine and 42.9% is considered fully vaccinated.
A total of 2,351 Utahns have died as a result of COVID-19 since March 2020.
The 14 deaths reported Friday were:
• A Davis County man between 65 and 84 who was not hospitalized at the time of his death.
• A Davis County man between 45 and 64 who was hospitalized at the time of his death.
• Two Salt Lake County women, both older than 85, neither hospitalized.
• A Salt Lake County man, 45-64, not hospitalized.
• A Salt Lake County woman, 45-64, not hospitalized.
• Two Salt Lake County men, 45-64, both hospitalized.
• A Salt Lake County woman older than 85 and a long-term care facility patient.
• A Salt Lake County man, 25-44, hospitalized.
• A Salt Lake County man, 65-84, a long-term care facility patient.
• A Utah County man, 65-84, not hospitalized.
• A Utah County man, 45-64, hospitalized.
• A Weber County woman, older than 85, not hospitalized.