Iowa surpasses 300,000 positive COVID-19 cases

Iowa has surpassed 300,000 total positive COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 1,550 new positive cases and 19 additional deaths Thursday. As of 10 a.m., the health department reported 301,442 total cases, 262,221 total recoveries and 4,251 total deaths since the pandemic began. The health department reported 299,892 total cases and 4,232 total deaths 24 hours earlier.

The state’s positivity rates continue to show a significant decline this week. Iowa reports a 13.6% 14-day positivity rate. That’s down from 14% a day earlier. The 7-day rate declined from 10.4% to 9.7%. IDPH reports 1,410,318 Iowans have been tested for the virus, and 3,320,406 tests have been administered.

IDPH reports 45 of Iowa’s 99 counties report a 14-day positivity rate greater than 15%. That’s down from 48 a day earlier and down from 58 on Monday. Nine counties report a rate higher than 20% and Monroe County continues to lead the state with a 32.7% positivity rate.

The number of Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19 increased after showing several days of decline. There are 532 patients hospitalized, up from 516 a day earlier. There were 86 patients admitted in the last 24 hours, up from 82 the previous day. There are 85 patients in intensive care and 35 patients on ventilators.

There are 85 long-term care facilities reporting virus outbreaks in Iowa. That’s up by one in the last 24 hours. Iowa reports 1,974 positive cases and 976 recoveries within those facilities. There have been 1,718 deaths in Iowa’s long-term care facilities.

Iowa released new data on vaccine distribution in the state on Wednesday. The health department reported a total of 109,868 vaccine doses have been administered in Iowa, with 103,974 of those vaccinations going to Iowa residents.

The Iowa Department of Public Health offers virus data on this website. KCCI publishes a summary of the data each day at 10 a.m.