Iowa COVID-19 hospitalizations continue dropping

The number of people being treated in Iowa hospitals for COVID-19 dropped Sunday morning to levels not seen since last summer as thousands of more Iowans have finished getting vaccinated against the respiratory disease.

Within a 24-hour period ending at 11 a.m. Sunday, the number of COVID-19 patients dropped from 170 to 167 - the lowest since 165 on July 8, 2020. Intensive care unit patients declined from 38 to 35, the lowest since 34 on June 30, 2020, and patients on ventilators fell from 10 to six, the lowest number since the state began reporting this data March 31, 2020.

New cases

According to Iowa public health data, the state confirmed 336 new COVID-10 cases in the 24-hour period. That brought the state's rolling average of new daily cases to 462, the lowest since 440 cases were reported Aug, 13, 2020.

No new cases were reported during the period for people listed in the education occupation category, leaving its total number of cases at 7,727. Of children up to age 17, 47 new cases were added in the period, raising the total to 38,941.

The number of new cases per county was not available in the state's report Sunday morning.

A day short of a full year since the pandemic first was confirmed in Iowa, 339,544 cases have been confirmed in the state as of Sunday.

Deaths

Another six COVID-19-related deaths were confirmed Sunday - one dating to January and five to February.

Polk County recorded two of the deaths; Black Hawk, Marion, Scott and Winneshiek counties each reported one.

According to the state data, two of the deaths were people between the ages of 41 and 60; one between the ages of 61 and 80, and three over 80.

Vaccinations

The number of people in Iowa who have completed getting vaccinations increased by 16,472 to reach 280,254, the state said Sunday. The number of individuals with one dose was 332,264.

Linn County, according to the latest figures, surpassed completing inoculations of over 13 percent of the county's adult population with 22,705 people being fully vaccinated.

In Johnson County, 20,091 people were reported to be fully vaccinated, about 16.6 percent of its adult population.