New Iowa COVID cases, hospitalizations reported both decline
COVID-19 hospitalizations and new reported cases both dropped again this week in Iowa, according to data released Wednesday by the Iowa Department of Public Health and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The number of Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa dropped by 30 to 144 this week, the federal health and human services department reported. That’s the fewest hospitalized in one weekly update since May, and it’s the second consecutive week that number has declined. At this time in previous Octobers during the pandemic, the state had around 500 COVID-19 patients in hospitals.
Of those patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa, 12 required intensive care for complications from the disease, down by more than half from 26 last week.
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New reported COVID-19 cases also declined again, for the seventh consecutive week. There were 1,508 new COVID-19 cases reported over the past seven days, according to the state health department, or about 215 per day. Since the end of August, that number has dropped about 70%.
That number of new cases likely does not capture the full extent of the pandemic in Iowa, however, as people who are asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus may choose not to get tested, and people who test positive using an at-home test are unlikely to be included in the state’s count.
The state health department reported 27 additional deaths on Wednesday, raising Iowa’s pandemic death toll to 10,152. Most of the deaths reported this week likely occurred earlier, as it takes time for the health department to verify and publicly report each COVID-19 death.
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The latest COVID-19 numbers in Iowa
The latest data in Iowa since March 2020 for the pandemic, as of midnight Oct. 19, compared with one week earlier:
- Confirmed cases: 861,010, an increase of 1,508.
- Deaths: 10,152, an increase of 27.
The Iowa Department of Public Health reports vaccination data once per month. As of Oct. 3, 59.6% of Iowa’s population were considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19, having received their initial one- or two-dose vaccine sequence.
How many people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa?
Note: Hospitalization data for COVID-19 is no longer available through the Iowa Department of Public Health. The data below is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
- Hospitalizations: 144, down from 174 one week ago.
- Patients in intensive care: 12, down from 26.
Tim Webber is a data visualization specialist for the Register. Reach him at twebber@registermedia.com, 515-284-8532, and on Twitter at @HelloTimWebber.
