New infections increase for fourth week in a row; available ICU beds hit all-time low
116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
New infections increase for fourth week in a row; available ICU beds hit all-time low
Mercy Medical Center says 98.1 percent of all staff are compliant with its COVID-19 vaccine requirement as of Monday, the final day for employees to be fully vaccinated or have an exemption. Hospital officials say “a small percentage” of staff requested and were approved for a religious or medical exemption.
Friday marked the final day for employees of MercyOne to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus or receive an exemption. The health care system had extended the deadline to comply with a new state law that allowed staff previously denied an exemption to reapply.
Linn County Public Health is holding four vaccination clinics at Cedar Rapids schools for children 5 to 11. The clinics, open to any child with a parent present, will take place from Monday, Nov. 29 to Thursday, Dec. 2.
The contagious delta variant is driving up COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Mountain West and fueling disruptive outbreaks in the North, a worrisome sign of what could be ahead this winter in the U.S.
Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids announced new steps to develop its cardiovascular program as part of officials’ ongoing goal to grow the heart program as its patient numbers continue to climb. “We wouldn’t have gone down that path unless we were pretty confident.”
9,067 new cases of COVID-19 infections were reported in the past week, up from 7,643 the previous week and from 6,983 two weeks ago.
Fred Horn, 62, has never served in the military. But on Oct. 5, he was admitted to the Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Iowa City under the “fourth mission,” a policy that allows the VA to assist in times of crisis.
Eric Bradley, an environmental health manager at Scott County Public Health, will take on a new role at Linn County Public Health as the deputy director later this month.
The first young Iowans got the first shots of the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday following the approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for kids aged 5-11 years. For those kids, the shots represented the first step to returning to normal.
More than 7,600 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Iowa in past week. Also, virus deaths surpass 7,000 in Iowa since March 2020.
With approval from federal officials, pediatricians, public health officials, pharmacies and other vaccine providers across the state have begun administering COVID-19 vaccines to children aged five to 11 years.
U.S. health officials on Tuesday gave the final signoff to Pfizer’s kid-size COVID-19 shot, a milestone that opens a major expansion of the nation’s vaccination campaign to children as young as 5.
Nov. 1 was the deadline for UnityPoint Health workers to be vaccinated against the coronavirus or request an exemption. Employees that fail to be vaccinated and don’t meet the criteria for an exemption will be placed on administrative leave.
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