SALT LAKE CITY — Utah health officials are once again imploring residents to get vaccinated after COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations rose sharply over the past week.
The Utah Department of Health reported an additional 4,504 cases Thursday, along with four new deaths from COVID-19. There are currently 118 people hospitalized, with 18 of those in ICU.
And while the numbers are not close to the peak of the omicron surge earlier this year, UDOT says data looks to be headed in the wrong direction.
"Given trends in other areas of the country, we expect to see sustained increases over the coming weeks," the department said in a statement.
The rolling 7-day average of positive COVID tests jumped to 645 a day, with an 18.8% person-to-person 7-day average positivity rate.
While addressing Thursday's spike in numbers, Intermountain Healthcare doctors hope that those who have been vaccinated will help the entire state.
"We hope that because of a reasonable amount of vaccination and an immunity in the population, we're not gonna have the same kind of impact on hospitalizations that we saw in December and January," said Dr. Andrew Pavia.
State sewage monitoring shows a few more areas reporting increasing trends, while most are either steady or declining.