COVID-19 continues to wind down in Iowa

The number of new COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations continued to decline in Iowa in the past week as the state emerges from the latest surge in the pandemic.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 1,008 new coronavirus cases in the past seven days, according to new coronavirus data released Wednesday. That’s down from the1,746 cases reported for the previous week and the 6,809 cases reported the week before.

The latest COVID-19 surge in Iowa, driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant, peaked on Jan. 19 with 38,574 new cases reported in one week.

COVID-19 cases also continued to decline in Linn and Johnson counties.

Linn County reported 125 new cases in the past week, compared to 133 the previous week.

Johnson County added 78 new cases in the past week, a drop from the 94 reported the previous week.

As of March 10, the transmission level for Linn and Johnson counties at in the “low” category, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Also in the low category in Eastern Iowa: Benton, Black Hawk and Washington counties. Still in the “medium” transmission category are Allamakee, Buchanan, Cedar, Iowa, Jones and Winneshiek counties.

Under new federal guidelines, people living in areas rated as medium or low no longer need to wear masks indoors or in public spaces.

Hospitalizations

A big drop was reported in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 112 patients hospitalized in the past week, down from 154 reported the week before.

That compares to the seven-day peak of 991 hospitalizations reported Jan. 19.

COVID-19 patients in intensive care totaled 15 in the past seven days, a decline from the 25 reported last week.

Deaths

The state public health department confirmed 87 new deaths as a result of COVID-19 in the past seven days, compared to 91 deaths the previous week.

Since the coronavirus arrived in Iowa two years ago, the virus has claimed 9,349 lives.

Linn County reported six deaths in the past week. The county has the second-highest county death toll at 573 fatalities.

Johnson County reported five deaths this week, bringing the total to 145.

Polk County remains as the Iowa county with the most deaths -- 1,076 -- in the past two years.

Vaccinations

As of Wednesday, 1,904,393 Iowans and non-residents in Iowa were fully vaccinated. In the past week, 3,224 individuals completed the vaccine series in the past seven days.

That total is 61.4 percent of the state’s population and 65.4 percent of Iowans aged 5 and over, according to the CDC.

The number of fully vaccinated individuals with a COVID-19 booster has reached 1,004,944, with the addition of 4,463 boosted individuals in the past week.

In Linn County, 66.2 percent of the entire population and 70.6 percent of residents aged 5 and over are fully vaccinated as of this week.

Johnson County reported 72 percent of the county’s entire population and 76.4 percent of those aged 5 and older are fully vaccinated.

Comments: (319) 398-8469; michaela.ramm@thegazette.com

John McGlothlen of The Gazette contributed to this report.