Total COVID-19 hospitalizations fall below 400 for the first time since early October

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The total number of people hospitalized by the new coronavirus in Iowa dropped below 400 after being above the level for more than three and a half months, according to new state data on Sunday .

By 10:30 a.m., the Iowa Department of Public Health said that 847 people who had tested positive for COVID-19 had been added to the state’s total since the same time Saturday morning. Overall, 312,811 people have tested positive for the virus since the onset of the pandemic. A total of 274,103 people are considered recovery, an increase of 914.

An additional death due to COVID-19 has been reported to the state in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 4,488 people in Iowa.

382 people are being hospitalized for the virus in Iowa, a net decrease of 37 since the last report on Saturday. This is the lowest number of hospitalizations since October 5, 2020. Iowa has hospitalized a total of 109 consecutive days in this section of at least 400 patients concurrently with COVID-19. The previous longest series of days above 400 patients was six, in early May.

The hospitals of Iowa so far on November 18, 2020 were maximum at 1,527 patients.

79 of the people are in intensive care units, a net increase of three. 36 patients required the use of a ventilator, a net decrease of two. 51 patients admitted recently were recorded in the last 24 hours reporting period, lower than the previous 64 persons.

An additional 2,751 people have reported test results by public and private laboratories over the past 24 hours. The positivity rate for this group of tests was 30.8%, slightly higher than the previous day’s 29.0%. The positivity rate calculated with this method may differ from the number on the coronavirus dashboard of the state because it uses the number of people tested, not the total number of tests, including people who have been tested repeatedly.

A total of 1,447,213 people in Iowa have been tested since the onset of the pandemic.

The state has not updated its vaccination data since Saturday morning.

Copyright 2021 KCRG. All rights reserved.