Page 3 - John Mcglothlen News Today

Continuing a downward trajectory from a pre-Thanksgiving spike, COVID-19 hospitalizations in Iowa reached a low Sunday not seen in about four months and finally dipping below last summers worst surge.

Fewer Iowans are getting tested for COVID-19, and that’s making public health officials nervous. “Anytime you don’t know your status, you could certainly be spreading the virus unknowingly,” said Liz Highland, an advanced registered nurse practitioner at the clinic that manages the bulk of the University of Iowa’s COVID-19 testing. “That’s the biggest risk — that people who have COVID are still out in the public and spreading it.” Over the last month, Dec. 21 through Wednesday...

Mon., January 25, 2021 City of Washington crews work Jan. 6 to remove the massive piles of snow from downtown. The city could see the worst of the snow accumulation predicted for a storm Monday — up to a foot, forecasters say. (Caitlin Yamada/ The Union) Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon Alexa enabled device to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?" If you pr...

The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in Iowa hospitals dipped below 500 Sunday for the first time in nearly three months.

By John McGlothlen, The Gazette As the number of COVID-19 tests analyzed in Iowa over the holiday weekend plummeted, the state reported 619 new cases and confirmed one death due to the virus Sunday morning. The five Test Iowa drive-through sites, normally closed on weekends, were closed on Christmas Day also. The hiatus resulted in only 1,897 test results being analyzed in the 24-hour period ending at 11 a.m. Sunday, according to data released by the state. Of those tests, nearly 33 percent...

The new cases were identified in 4,821 tests, for a positivity rate of 41.94 percent. The numbers, collected from the 24-hour period ending at 11 a.m. Wednesday, brings Iowa’s death toll from the virus to 3,668 since March and total number of cases to 271,022. Linn County on Wednesday reported 81 new cases for a total of 16,150 cases since March. The county also reported two deaths, bringing its death toll to 234. Johnson County reported 55 new cases, bringing its total to 10,716 cases since ...

The positive tests were found among 4.197 individuals who were tested, for a 30.3 percent positivity rate. This is the seventh day in a row where the average number of people tested has been below 5,000. The average hasn’t been that low since Sept. 15. Statewide, 269,020 Iowans have tested positive for the virus since March. Confirmed virus deaths in the state now total 3,653. Linn County on Tuesday reported 69 new cases for a total of 16,069 cases since March. The county reported one dea...

Mon., December 21, 2020 Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell reacts on the sideline during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Texas Tech in Ames, Iowa, in this Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020, file photo. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon Alexa enabled device to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?" If you prefer podc...

John McGlothlen, The Gazette After not confirming any additional COVID-19 deaths over the last two days, the state Sunday morning verified 138 more, bringing the total number of people in Iowa whose deaths have been attributed to the respiratory disease to 3,589. Earlier this month, Iowa public health officials said they were changing the way they were confirming deaths caused by COVID-19. Starting after Dec. 7, the state began counting according to federal cause-of-death coding, which is b...