Coronavirus

New COVID-19 cases in Iowa continued their slow decline, falling to 3,980 new cases in the past seven days. As of this week, the state has tallied 800,176 total coronavirus infections since March 2020.

The COVID-19 vaccination effort was underway for Iowa’s youngest children this past week after federal health officials approved coronavirus shots for those aged 6 months to 5 years.

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa’s hospitals has declined over the past few weeks, falling to a total of 162 patients this week, according to the latest state data.

The number of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations declined across Iowa in the past week, even as community transmission levels remain high, according to federal officials.

A year and a half after the first coronavirus vaccinations were given to U.S. health care workers, COVID-19 shots became available for children in Iowa aged 6 months to 5 years.

A University of Iowa Health Care researcher is among 21 nationally to receive an American Lung Association award worth hundreds of thousands for “COVID-19 and respiratory virus research” – his looking specifically at “long-haul” COVID.

Officials in 1,468 local governments — including 68 in Iowa --- effectively said "no," turning away a potential total of $73 million, according to an Associated Press analysis.

Number of new cases decreased in past week.

An Iowa nursing home worker who admitted stealing a resident’s painkillers says the stress of watching more than a dozen COVID-19 patients die alone contributed to her use of cocaine and other drugs.

New weekly COVID-19 cases counts increased again as of Wednesday. Iowans and non-Iowans are still getting their COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots, but the vaccination rate still lingers below 70 percent, new state data shows.

Statewide, the number of patients in Iowa hospitals with COVID-19 reached 180 as of Wednesday, up from 139 patients last week. It’s the highest total seen since early March, but still far below the omicron variant surge in January.

Decisions made at state legislative level prohibit school boards from making local decisions they feel are best for their school districts and encouraging increasingly polarizing views from citizens

Work is underway to “fine tune” the COVID-19 vaccines to make them more effective against emerging variants, but a strategy scientists hope to employ includes offering flu and coronavirus boosters in a single vaccine.

The state public health department has reported new COVID-19 case counts have increased again, reaching 3,847 new infections in the past seven days. Hospitalizations also continued to increase this week.

The East Central Iowa Council of Governments is still looking to allocate low-interest loans to businesses in Eastern Iowa affected by the pandemic or adding jobs that were negatively affected by COVID-19.