Coronavirus

As new COVID-19 infections continue surging statewide, both Cedar Rapids hospitals continue to delay elective, non-emergent surgical procedures to preserve hospital capacity.

Starting Saturday, private health insurers will be required to cover up to eight home COVID-19 tests per month for people on their plans. The Biden administration announced the change Monday as it looks to lower costs and make testing for the virus more convenient amid rising frustrations.

There were 353 traffic deaths in Iowa in 2021, according to a preliminary figure from the state transportation department. That is the highest number of traffic fatalities in Iowa since 2017, when there were 402, and a nearly 6 percent increase over the previous year.

Also, Iowa school districts are waiting on a Supreme Court decision on whether COVID-19 vaccines, weekly testing can be required for staff

Johnson County Public Health officially ended its coronavirus contact tracing efforts on Tuesday, saying the current surge in new cases has made it nearly impossible for contact tracers to conduct investigations in a timely manner.

QHC Facilities, based in Clive, operates eight skilled nursing facilities including Crestview Acres in Marion as well as in Tama, Madison, Humboldt, Jackson, Webster and Polk counties and two assisted living centers.

The highly transmissible omicron variant of the novel coronavirus has become the dominant strain in Iowa, and its continued spread will result in a peak of new infections by the end of the month, University of Iowa Health Care officials say.

Linn, Johnson counties seeing positivity rates above 20 percent

The University of Iowa has until June 30, 2023 to complete a federally-funded $9.2 million expansion of its State Hygienic Lab, which has served Iowa’s public health needs for more than a century and processed about 1.6 million COVID specimens over the last nearly two years.

Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and other GOP legislative leaders said they believe it is prudent to await court decisions on several challenges to federal vaccine mandates first.

The number of patients seeking medical care continues overwhelmingly to be those who are not fully vaccinated.

As other local agencies are scaling back their contact tracing -- or discontinuing the effort altogether -- Johnson County Public Health has maintained its effort.

The FDA also said everyone 12 and older who's eligible for a Pfizer booster can get one as early as five months after their last dose rather than six months.

Iowa Senate leader said his preference is to limit the discussion to just COVID-19 vaccine requirements, but acknowledged other lawmakers may want to broaden that discussion to other vaccines.

Twitter on Sunday banned the personal account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for multiple violations of its COVID-19 misinformation policy, according to a statement from the company.