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Weekly COVID update: IDPH reports 1,515 more cases and 28 additional deaths

Find the latest Iowa data on COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations here.

IOWA, USA — To find out how and where to schedule a vaccine appointment for children 5-11, click here.

To find out how and where to schedule a booster shot appointment click here.

To research transmission rates by county, click here.

Gov. Kim Reynolds' final COVID-19 disaster proclamation expired Tuesday, Feb. 15, which decommissioned the state's COVID-19 dashboard at coronavirus.iowa.gov. However, the Iowa Department of Public Health will continue to update case numbers on its website each Wednesday.

According to the health department, this reporting "more closely aligns COVID-19 with existing reporting standards for other respiratory viruses, like flu."

Here's how IDPH changed its reporting starting in February 2022:

  • Testing sites are no longer required to report negative COVID-19 test results, meaning the positivity rate will no longer be reported. IDPH said this data point is not as meaningful as it once was due to the increase in testing volume and availability of at-home tests.
  • Long-term care facilities* are no longer be required to notify IDPH when they have three or more infections in residents, so the department will no longer report the number of outbreaks in these facilities. IDPH said it will use data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to identify facilities with positive cases and assist in infection control. 
  • While the state is no longer requiring hospitals to report COVID-related data, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services continues to require hospital data reporting, which is available here.

*To view a list of Iowa's long-term care facility outbreaks through January 2022, click here.

March 29, 2023 update

Overview/Cases

  • 1,058,274 statewide positive tests since the start of the pandemic (+2,277 from March 22)
  • 908,936 statewide positive cases (+1,515 from March 22)
  • 2,145 positive tests in the last seven days
  • 10,797 COVID-related deaths since the start of the pandemic (+28 from March 22, though it is not stated when the deaths occurred)

Counties with the most positive cases (Total positive tests in parentheses):

  • Polk — 148,258 (177,463)
  • Linn —  65,239 (75,574)
  • Scott — 49,293 (56,553)
  • Johnson — 45,242 (53,091)
  • Black Hawk — 39,227 (46,451)

Counties with the least positive cases (Total positive tests in parentheses):

  • Adams — 944 (1,051)
  • Audubon — 1,316 (1,472)
  • Ringgold — 1,324 (1,451)
  • Wayne — 1,523 (1,763)
  • Taylor — 1,543 (1,734)

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Hospitalizations

The federal Health and Human Services website is no longer being updated with COVID hospitalizations.

Statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations totaled 154 on Jan. 25. 67.28% of hospital inpatient beds were in use, and 2.29% of those beds were being used for COVID-19 patients.

Vaccinations

Based on IDPH data, which was last updated in early March:

  • 60.1% of all Iowans are fully vaccinated
    • 1,901,739 individuals are fully vaccinated
  • 92% of Iowans 65 years old and up are fully vaccinated
  • 1,398,417 monovalent booster doses administered
    • 611,096 bivalent booster doses administered

The state officially administered more than 1 million doses on March 12, 2021. The state officially administered more than 1 million doses to Iowans on March 14, 2021.

Two doses must be administered for an individual to be counted as fully vaccinated for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Johnson & Johnson is a single-dose vaccine, so individuals are considered fully vaccinated after one shot.

Text FACTS to 515-457-1026 for the latest coronavirus coverage. You can also see all of Local 5's COVID-19 coverage by clicking here.

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