Iowa adds 7,000-plus COVID cases in one week; hospitalizations climb 26%

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise in Iowa, with the latest report from the state public health agency showing 7,112 new cases since last Wednesday and nearly 500 patients hospitalized.

The seven-day average for new cases is 1,016 — the highest since Jan. 28.

Unlike the spike in cases last winter, more than half the new cases are among younger Iowans, with the top three age groups being:

As of Wednesday, 498 patients were hospitalized with the virus, up 26 percent from the week before. The last time the state saw similar numbers was Jan. 16, when 505 people were hospitalized.

Of those patients, 133 are in intensive care units, the most since Dec. 31, 2020. The number of patients on ventilators to help them breathe climbed from 45 to 51 over the past week, the most since Feb. 4.

Linn County on Wednesday reported 42 people hospitalized with COVID-19, compared to 42 last Wednesday.

State health officials said late Wednesday that 79 percent of the Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 had not been vaccinated and that 86 percent of those in intensive care had not been vaccinated.

400,000 cases

The latest weekly report pushed Iowa past the 400,000 mark for the number of coronavirus cases since March 2020. That number now stands at 400,082 people, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Linn County reported 571 new cases over the past seven days, for a seven-day average of 82 — the highest recorded since Jan. 9. Since March 2020, 23,295 county residents have tested positive for the virus.

Linn County had a positivity rate of 8.81 percent over the past week, compared to the statewide positivity rate of 8.17 percent.

Johnson County added 205 new virus cases over the past seven days, for a seven-day average of 29. A total of 15,545 people in the county have tested positive for the virus.

Johnson County’s positivity rate was 5.94 percent.

Transmission rate

As of Wednesday, 93 of Iowa’s 99 counties are in the “red zone” indicating high transmission rates, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The remaining six counties — Adair, Decatur, Howard, Monona, Palo Alto and Union — have “substantial” virus transmission rates.

That means that all of Iowa falls under CDC advice for people — even the vaccinated — to wear masks in indoor spaces like stores and schools.

Vaccinations

The number of fully vaccinated Iowans rose by 17,100 over the past seven days, for a total of 1,533,028.

That is 57.28 percent of Iowans over age 12 and 48.59 percent of all Iowans.

In Linn County, 1,588 residents completed a full vaccine series over the past week, bringing the fully vaccinated total to 124,817. That’s 69.17 percent of the 16-and-over population and 55.06 percent of all county residents.

In Johnson County, 693 more people became fully vaccinated over the past week, bringing the total number to 90,723. That’s 72.98 percent of the 16-and-over population and 60.03 percent of all county residents.

Deaths

The state confirmed 42 deaths from 26 counties over the past week.

Of those, 19 individuals were 81 or older; 14 were between the ages of 61 and 80; and nine were between the ages of 41 and 60.

Of the deaths reported, one was in January, one in June, three in July and 37 this month, according to a Gazette analysis.

Black Hawk, Lee and Polk counties each reported four deaths. Counties reporting two deaths each were Johnson, Cerro Gordo, Ringgold, Union, Wapello, Washington and Webster.

Counties reporting one death each were Bremer, Cass, Cedar, Dallas, Des Moines, Dubuque, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Ida, Kossuth, Marion, Muscatine, Page and Pottawattamie.

Long-term care

The state reported that the number of outbreaks in Iowa’s long-term care facilities doubled over the past week, from four to eight.

An outbreak is defined as three or more cases among residents and staff.

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