DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – The number of people tested for the new coronavirus in Iowa has shown a sharp decline as state-run facilities have taken a Christmas break, according to new data on Saturday.
As of 10:30 a.m., the Iowa Department of Public Health said an additional 299 people tested positive for COVID-19 at the same time on Friday, bringing the state total to 274,313. 277,670 people are considered to have recovered from the disease.
TestIowa, the state-run testing program, closed early Thursday, Dec. 24, and remained closed Friday for the Christmas holidays. This was probably a factor that contributed to the reduction in the number of people who tested positive and to a smaller number of tests in general. A similar decrease in tests compared to other days was observed near the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November.
No additional people who died due to COVID-19 were added to the state total in the last 24 hours. The total number of people who died from the disease during the pandemic is 3,744.
The total number of people in Iowa hospitals due to COVID-19 was 558, a net decrease of 42 people. This is the lowest total number of people hospitalized due to the October 25 virus. 114 of these people are in intensive care units, a net decrease of seven. 63 of these patients require the use of a ventilator, a net decrease of six. 76 people were recently admitted to Iowa hospitals because of the disease, less than the previous three days of reporting.
Another 1,247 people had test results reported by public and private laboratories in the last 24 hours, a significantly lower number than in recent days. The positivity rate for this batch of tests was 24.0% the next day, with a rate of less than 30% using this calculation. It is the first time that there have been two days in a row with a positivity rate of less than 30% since the end of October. The positivity rate calculated using this method may differ from the number on the state coronavirus dashboard due to the fact that it uses the number of people tested, not the total number of tests, including people who have been tested repeatedly.
A total of 1,339,501 people in Iowa have been tested since the beginning of the pandemic.
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