CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Iowa announced Wednesday that it will report data in a new trial, which will focus on the total number of tests performed, rather than the people tested.
The change will significantly reduce the state’s positivity rate, as it will divide the number of positive tests by the tests taken. Previously, Iowa reported its data “COVID-19 at the individual level.
The old method resulted in each Iowan appearing in state data only once, no matter how many times they were tested. For example, if someone took 30 tests, they were reflected in the number of “people tests” in the state only once, not 30 times.
This resulted in the state having a higher number of tests and a lower positivity rate. But Iowa did not display these numbers.
In October, the state’s public health department decided to display both the total tests taken and the people tested to reflect that challenge.
This change, which was announced on Tuesday, will focus exclusively on the total number of tests performed. The change is expected to take place sometime this week.
Director Garcia said he initially wanted to make the change earlier, but delayed the change because the state department was dealing with an increase in cases in November.
As for vaccines, Governor Reynolds said Tuesday that the state’s supply of vaccines is growing. She said the state’s vaccine supply would increase to 62,000 doses, which she said was a 24 percent increase from the state’s 49,000.
She also said the White House said the Food and Drug Administration would make a decision on the Johnson and Johnson vaccine emergency clearance by the end of February.
Governor Kim Reynolds also announced that the state will not go any further with Microsoft’s centralized COVID-19 vaccine programming website. Our KCRG-TV9 i9 investigation unit reported on Tuesday that several counties were unsure whether to use the site.
Reynolds mentioned the challenges faced by other states in implementing vaccines, as well as talks with vaccine partners, for the decision not to continue with the contract.
“It quickly became apparent that the integration of the many existing registration and programming platforms that are used by some public health departments, pharmacies, and other vaccine providers would not be possible in a timely manner without significant disruptions to their systems. and we didn’t want to slow down the progress we’re making, ”Reynold said.
Instead, Reynolds said the state is shifting its focus from building a new system to optimizing the overall registration and programming process for Iowans.
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