Iowa COVID-19 hospitalizations down 24% in past week

Number of new virus cases decreases 13% in past seven days

Aug. 17, 2022 2:47 pm, Updated: Aug. 17, 2022 5:34 pm

Patient care technician Rachel Zimmer looks through the window into a COVID-19 patient's room in December 2020 in the intensive care unit at UnityPoint Health-St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids. The state on Wednesday reported a 24 percent decrease in the number of hospitalized COVID cases in the past week. (The Gazette)

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped 24 percent in Iowa in the past week, and the number of new cases also decreased by double-digits.

As of Wednesday, 244 Iowans were hospitalized with COVID, down from the 323 hospitalizations reported the previous week, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The number of COVID-19 patents in intensive care also decreased in the past week, from 32 to 27.

In the past week, 4,921 new virus cases were reported, down from the 5,660 cases reported last week, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Since the start of the pandemic, Iowa has reported 832,937 cases of COVID-19. The total is likely higher, given the availability of at-home test kits, which are not reported to the state.

Linn County reported 392 new cases in the past week, up from last week’s 384 new cases. Since March 2020, the county has reported 58,742 cases.

Johnson County reported 306 new cases in the past week, down from last week’s 320 cases. To date, the county has reported 40,720 cases since the pandemic began.

Deaths

In the past week, 32 virus-related deaths were reported in Iowa, according to the state public health department. Last week, 33 deaths were reported.

Linn County reported four deaths, bringing its death toll to 612. Johnson County reported one death, bringing its total to 157.

In total, 9,882 Iowans have died from the virus since March 2020.

Vaccinations

Iowa this month introduced the Iowa Immunization Registry Information System and removed the CDC’s interactive map showing vaccination rates. The Iowa system will be updated the first Thursday of each month.

As of Aug. 1, the Iowa system showed 59.2 percent of all Iowans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

In Linn County, 65.8 percent of the county population is fully vaccinated. In Johnson County, that number is 70 percent.

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