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

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – The total number of people hospitalized for the new coronavirus in Iowa has fallen below 400 after spending more than three and a half months above that level, new state data show on Sunday.

As of 10:30 a.m., the Iowa Department of Public Health said 847 people who tested positive for COVID-19 were added to the statewide total at the same time on Saturday morning. In all, 312,811 people tested positive for the virus since the beginning of the pandemic. In total, 274,103 people are considered recovered, an increase of 914.

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

382 people are hospitalized in Iowa because of the virus, a net drop of 37 since last Saturday’s report. This is the lowest total number of hospitalizations since October 5, 2020. Iowa has seen a total of 109 days in a row in this portion of at least 400 patients hospitalized at the same time as COVID-19. The longest previous period of over 400 patients was six in early May.

Iowa hospitals have so far had a maximum of 1,527 patients on November 18, 2020.

79 of these people are in intensive care units, a net increase of three. 36 patients required the use of one ventilator, a net decrease of two. 51 new hospitalized patients were registered in the last reporting period of 24 hours, less than the 64 people in the previous period.

Another 2,751 people had the results of tests reported by public and private laboratories in the last 24 hours. The positivity rate for this batch of tests was 30.8%, slightly higher than the 29.0% of the previous day. 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 1,447,213 people in Iowa have been tested since the beginning of the pandemic.

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

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