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Iowa COVID-19 cases down, hospitalizations up in latest state report
The number of Iowans who’ve tested positive for the virus since March 2020 surpassed 900,000 this week
Syringes of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine are seen in December 2020 at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. (The Gazette)
The number of new COVID-19 cases in Iowa was down over the last week, but hospitalizations were up again, by more than 17 percent.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services reported Wednesday that the number of new COVID-19 cases in Iowa this week was down by 2.8 percent — from 1,626 last week, to 1,581 this week. The decline follows two weeks of increased virus activity.
It is likely the actual number of new cases is higher than the state’s report. The results of at-home tests, which are readily available to the public, are not reported to public health agencies in Iowa. The state also does not include COVID-19 reinfections of the same person in its weekly reports.
In Linn County, Iowa HHS reported 104 new cases, a decrease from 141 last week, and the lowest number of new weekly cases since April of last year. A total of 64,506 Linn County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since March 2020.
Johnson County recorded 86 new cases in the last week, down from 104 the week before. Since the start of the pandemic, a total of 44,831 Johnson County residents have tested positive for COVID-19.
As of this week, 900,343 Iowans have tested positive for the virus since the beginning of the pandemic nearly three years ago.
Deaths
The state reported 18 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 over the last week, a decline from the 28 that were reported each of the previous two weeks. That total includes two deaths in Linn County. There were no new deaths confirmed in Johnson County.
Since March 2020, Linn County has recorded 662 deaths from COVID-19, while Johnson County has recorded 182.
A total of 10,671 Iowans have died of the disease since the beginning of the pandemic.
Hospitalizations
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa increased over the last week by more than 17 percent, from 135 last week to 159 this week. It’s the second consecutive week of increased hospitalization numbers, according to data published by U.S. Health and Human Services.
The number of patients in intensive care decreased from 16 last week to 10 this week.
Comments: 319-398-8465; sara.baranowski@thegazette.com
