Iowa COVID-19 cases rise, but hospitalizations reach new lows

After two years of the pandemic, COVID-19 hospitalizations in Iowa reached all-time lows in the past week.

But data from the Iowa Department of Public Health on Wednesday showed a spike in the number of new COVID-19 cases statewide — the first increase in virus activity since the peak of the omicron variant’s surge in mid-January.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state fell to 33 on Wednesday — the lowest since the novel coronavirus first arrived in Iowa in March 2020, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That’s also a big drop from the 74 hospitalizations reported the previous week, and far below the seven-day peak of 991 hospitalizations reported Jan. 19 at the height of the omicron surge.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care dropped to six in the past week, also an all-time low during the pandemic, federal data shows. Last week, 15 patients were in ICUs with COVID-19.

New cases

In the past week, 930 new COVID-19 cases were reported, almost double the 478 new cases reported last week and 23 percent higher than the 720 cases reported the week before, according to new data from the state public health department.

It’s still far below the Jan. 19 peak when 38,500 new cases were reported for the week.

New cases also increased in Linn and Johnson counties.

Linn County reported 122 new cases in the past seven days, almost double the 56 case reported the previous week. Since March 2020, 52,070 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the county.

Johnson County added 114 new cases for the week, up from the 43 cases reported last week and 37 cases reported the previous week. Since March 2020, 34,048 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the county.

As of March 31, the COVID-19 transmission level for all 99 Iowa counties remained in the “low” category, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Under federal guidelines, people living in areas rated as medium or low no longer need to wear masks indoors or in public spaces.

Deaths

The state public health department confirmed nine COVID-related deaths in Iowa in the past week, a major decline from the previous week’s 43 deaths and the 53 deaths two weeks ago.

Since March 2020, 9,454 people in Iowa have died from the virus — an adjusted total.

Linn County reported one COVID-19 death in the past seven days, the same as the previous week. The countywide death toll now stands at 579.

No deaths were reported in Johnson County in the past week. In total, 150 county residents have died as a result of COVID-19 since the pandemic began.

Vaccinations

With an additional 2,840 Iowans and non-Iowans completing their COVID-19 vaccine series this week, 1,912,033 individuals have been fully vaccinated as of Wednesday.

According to the CDC, 61.6 percent of the state’s total population and 65.7 percent of Iowans aged 5 and older are fully vaccinated.

The total number of fully vaccinated and boosted individuals is 1,018,520 — a total that’s up 4,469 from last week.

In Linn County, 66.4 percent of the total county population and 70.8 percent of residents aged 5 and older were fully vaccinated as of this week, according to the CDC.

Johnson County reported 72.3 percent of the total county population and 76.7 percent of those aged 5 and older were fully vaccinated as of Wednesday.

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John McGlothlen of The Gazette contributed to this report.