IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Despite more than 41,000 people now fully vaccinated in Johnson County, the number of COVID cases among younger people has become a cause for concern.
In the last seven days, people between the ages of 18 and 29 accounted for the highest percentage of new positive cases in Iowa. At the state level, this age group represents 26% of the new positive tests.
But in Johnson County, nearly 40 percent of all cases are the same age group. 8% of the positive tests in Johnson County in the last week were among those aged 17 and younger, compared to 4% at the state level.
The Iowa City School District has been reporting nearly 1,000 quarantined students since Friday, April 9, with 57 positive cases and 84 allegedly positive cases. The two schools with the most confirmed cases and the quarantined students are Northwest Junior High and City High School.
Schools in Iowa are following CDC guidelines, which require students to be quarantined if they have had close contact with a positive case, mask or not. This is stricter than state guidance, which requires exposed students to be quarantined only if they were not wearing a mask.
Sam Jarvis of Johnson County Public Health said he was aware of the large number of cases, but could not give a specific reason.
“We anticipated an increase in the number of cases, probably due to spring trips or better weather. If a person was traveling, see friends or family. At this moment, we are not sure if there is anything in this regard or if it is a continuation of the journey “, said Jarvis.
Jarvis said Johnson County public health will continue to hold talks with the district on growing cases. He said that this first week of open eligibility for COVID vaccines went well, but as we have heard many times, he hopes that people will be patient because there was a high demand for limited supply.
Copyright 2021 KCRG. All rights reserved.