According to experts, Omicron variants are widespread in Utah.

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Federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention Report on Monday The Omicron variant hijacked the most predominant coronavirus strain in the United States. The CDC reported last week that Omicron accounted for 73.2% of all COVID-19 cases.

“Omicron is here and its frequency is rising rapidly,” said Steven Gouldstein, a virologist and postdoctoral fellow at the University of Utah School of Medicine.

According to Goldstein, the proportion of Omicron in places such as New York and the United Kingdom has doubled in a day and a half or two. Also, according to early South African data, the current COVID-19 vaccine provides an earned run average against mild to severe symptoms, compared to 65% to 70% efficacy against other variants. It has dropped to 35%. However, that rate returns from 70% to 75% of people who received a third boost of the Pfizer or Moderna version of the vaccine.

Protection against severe illness (strong enough to land a person in a hospital) remains robust, with approximately 75% efficacy from the 95% efficacy vaccine held against delta variants. is.

President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday an update to his administration’s winter COVID-19 plan, offering 500 million free and rapid COVID-19 tests, giving more support to hospitals and vaccination. I was planning to double the number and boost my efforts.

Goldstein said Biden’s plan to distribute 500 million tests was a good start. “I need more,” he said. “We need them in stores and pharmacies, not empty shelves.”

Biden’s plan is Associated Press reported, The federal government will purchase 500 million rapid tests for coronavirus and ship them free of charge to Americans from January. According to the White House, people use the new website to order tests and send them by US mail for free.

Goldstein said he wants the government to do the same “to enable people to use reliable, high-quality masks.” Goldstein wants the government to intervene to centralize the production and distribution of high-quality masks, as many of the KN95 masks available online are fake.

On Tuesday, the Utah Department of Health reported 811 new cases of coronavirus in the past day. The 7-day rolling average for new cases is 964, the lowest since August 16.

The Ministry of Health also reported 21 more COVID-19 deaths in the past day. One-third of them were under the age of 65 — all seven were 45-64.

Nine of the deaths reported on Tuesday occurred before December 1, and were recently confirmed to be caused by the coronavirus after further testing.

The number of children vaccinated continues to grow: 88,892 Children aged 5 to 11 have taken at least one dose after qualification. According to the Ministry of Health, this is 24.4% of older children in Utah. And 54,554 of those children are fully vaccinated — 15% of that age group.

Intensive care units in the state remain close to capacity. UDOH reported on Tuesday that 93.2% of all ICU beds in Utah and 96.3% of ICU beds in larger medical centers in the state are occupied. (Hospitals consider numbers above 85% to be functionally full.) Of all ICU patients, 37.9% are treated for COVID-19.

Vaccine dose / total dose given in the last day • 14,003 / 4,448,663..

Number of fully vaccinated Utahns • 1,880,852 — 57.6% of Utah’s total population.It’s an increase 2,660 in the past day.

Cases reported in the last day • 811.

Cases of school-aged children • Of the new cases announced on Monday, 93 children from kindergarten to high school accounted for 11.5% of the total. Forty-five cases were reported in children aged 5 to 10 years. 22 cases of children aged 11 to 13 years. 26 cases in children aged 14-18 years.

Tests reported in the last day • 7,393 People were tested for the first time. 14,694 in total People have been tested.

Deaths reported in the last day • twenty one.

In Utah County, two men and women aged 45-64 and five men and women aged 65-84 died.

Salt Lake County reported the deaths of three men and women aged 45-65 and women aged 85 and over. Three deaths also occurred in Washington County — a man and two women aged 65-84. And in Weber County, three men and women aged 65-84 and a woman aged 85 and over died.

Davis County reported two deaths — both 65-84 men. Two men and women aged 45-64 years died in Box Elder County. And there were two deaths in Tooele County — both women aged 65-84.

Cash County reported the death of a woman aged 65-84.

Hospitalizations reported in the last day • 444. This is 12 less than what was reported on Monday. Of the patients currently hospitalized, 182 are in the intensive care unit, 10 less than reported on Monday.

Percentage of positive tests • The state-specific method is 11% in the past day. This is lower than the 7-day average of 11.9%.

The state’s new method counts all test results, including repeated tests for the same individual. Monday’s rate was 5.5%, lower than the 7-day average of 8.2%.

[Read more: Utah is changing how it measures the rate of positive COVID-19 tests. Here’s what that means.]

Risk ratio • In the last 4 weeks, unvaccinated Utahns According to an analysis by the Utah Department of Health, COVID-19 is 15.6 times more likely to die than a vaccinated person.People who were not vaccinated were 9.7 times and 3.7 times more likely to be hospitalized. You are more likely to test positive for coronavirus.

Total up to now • 621,008 Cases; 3,738 deaths; 27,093 hospitalizations; 4,153,440 tested.

This story is under development and will be updated.