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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Department of Health reported 1,289 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths on Thursday. One of the deaths occurred prior to Dec. 1.
The rolling seven-day average for positive tests is now 1,005 per day. There are 458 people hospitalized in Utah with COVID-19.
Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital reported this week that it has remained over capacity largely due to COVID-19 patients.
The omicron variant of COVID-19 has quickly become a common strain of the virus in Utah.
In response to the continuing spread of the coronavirus, two companies have sought for and received FDA approval for pills that can treat COVID-19 infection at home. Pfizer received the nod on Wednesday for its pill and Merck gained the same approval on Thursday.
Utah health officials said in a statement Wednesday that doses of the Pfizer pill would be arriving here soon. However, the medication "will be in very limited supplies for some time and will go to those individuals who are most at risk for being hospitalized from COVID-19. We are working with providers across the state to determine the most equitable allocation strategies given this scarce resource," said Kevin McCulley, preparedness and response director with the Utah Department of Health.
New Utah data
School-age children account for 152 of Thursday's new cases — 58 cases were ages 5-10, 29 cases were 11-13, and 65 were 14-17, health officials said.
People who are unvaccinated face a 16.7 times greater risk of dying of COVID-19 over the past 28 days, as well as 9.8 times greater risk of hospitalization and 3.7 times the risk of testing positive than those who are vaccinated.
Health officials reported that 10,330 people were tested since Wednesday's report.
The Utah Department of Health will not update its dashboard on Friday in observance of the Christmas Eve holiday.
The five deaths reported Thursday include:
- A Utah County man, between the ages of 65-84, Utah County resident, who was not hospitalized at the time of death.
- A Weber County man, 25-45, not hospitalized.
- A Davis County woman, 65-84, hospitalized
- A Washington County woman, 45-64, resident, hospitalized
- A Salt Lake County woman, older than 85, hospitalized
