COVID-19 hospitalizations, case counts decline in Iowa

A bag of “I got my vaccine” buttons sits on a counter as children are vaccinated against COVID-19 on Nov. 3, 2021, at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital Pediatrics-Cedar Rapids, 1231 Park Place NE. A Wednesday report shows new case counts and hospitalizations declined slightly in Iowa in the past week, though community transmission levels remain high in most of the state. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

The number of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continues to decline in Iowa.

As of Wednesday, 3,919 new coronavirus cases had been reported in the past seven days, a decrease from the 3,987 cases reported the week before, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

In total, Iowa has had 792,208 COVID-19 cases since March 2020 when the pandemic arrived in the state.

Linn County reported 352 new cases in the past seven days, a drop from the 367 reported last week and a slight increase from the 350 cases reported the week before. In total, the county has had 55,313 coronavirus cases since March 2020.

Johnson County reported 268 cases in the past week. That’s down from the 315 reported last week and the 406 reported the week before. To date, 38,071 cases have been reported in the county.

Community transmission

As of June 20, most Iowa counties, including Johnson and Linn, continue to have “high” COVID-19 community transmission levels, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, more Iowa counties are falling into the “moderate” or “low” COVID-19 transmission levels, when compared to the week before.

Hospitalizations

As of Wednesday, 184 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa hospitals, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Last week, 186 hospitalized Iowans had the virus — the most since the 202 patients reported on March 2.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care also decreased to 17 this week from 25 last week, which was the highest ICU patient count since March 9.

Deaths

A whopping 65 new coronavirus deaths were confirmed this week after an upgrade of the National Center for Health Statistics system caused a blackout period.

Last week, the state public health department reported zero additional deaths.

In total, 9,680 Iowans have died as a result of COVID-19 during the pandemic.

Linn County reported an additional five coronavirus deaths, bringing its overall death toll to 594.

Johnson County reported one COVID-19 death. In total, 155 residents have died from the virus in the past two years.

Vaccinations

As of June 7 — the latest data available from the state public health department, which updates vaccination totals the first Tuesday of the month — the number of fully vaccinated Iowans and non-Iowans stood at 1,933,003.

That’s 62.3 percent of the state’s total population and 66.4 percent of those aged 5 and older. It’s also an increase of 10,083 from the May 3 vaccination totals.

The number of fully vaccinated and boosted individuals in Iowa reached 1,052,546 earlier this month.

Johnson County reported 73.1 percent of its total population and 77.6 percent of residents aged 5 and older are fully vaccinated. It is the only county in Iowa with a rate over 70 percent.

In Linn County, 67.1 percent of the total county population and 71.6 percent of those aged 5 and older were fully vaccinated as of this month.

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John McGlothlen of The Gazette contributed to this report.