Iowa's COVID cases continue rise
Sep. 9—OTTUMWA — Wapello County averaged more than 13 new cases of the coronavirus per day in the last week, according to new state data.
The Iowa Department of Public Health released its weekly data update on Wednesday, which showed that cases continue to increase in the last week. Iowa reported 8,404 new individuals tested positive for the virus in the previous seven days. That's slightly more than the 8,308 that had tested positive the week prior.
The younger population continues to drive case growth in the state. In the last week, children made up 29% of cases and those age 18-29 made up 18%.
Children make up 7% of those hospitalized in Iowa as of Wednesday, according to state data.
In Wapello, Appanoose, Monroe and Jefferson Counties, children make up the highest share of last week's newest cases. The exceptions are Davis and Van Buren, where children make up 17% and 14% of the new cases, respectively.
Over the last week, 94 new cases were reported in Wapello County, or about 13.4 new cases per day. In Jefferson, there were 48 new cases, 45 in Appanoose, 29 in Monroe, 24 in Davis and 16 in Van Buren.
There were 30 new deaths reported in Iowa, but none of those new deaths were in area counties. Deaths generally take a few weeks from when they occur to when they appear i state data.
To date, there have been 416,794 identified cases of the coronavirus in Iowa, with 6,337 deaths.
The Centers for Disease Control reported that about 1.6 million Iowans are fully vaccinated. That's about 61.7% of the eligible population. Currently, anyone age 12 or above can receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Wapello County leads the Courier-area in vaccinations, with 49.1% of its eligible population considered fully vaccinated. Of the three vaccines in use in the United States, two require two doses between 3-4 weeks apart and one only requires one dose.
In Monroe County, 40.1% of the eligible population is vaccinated. The figure is 39.9% in Appanoose, 41.6% in Jefferson, 35.5% in Van Buren and 31.5% in Davis.
Davis County has fallen back to the state's least vaccinated county, according to CDC numbers, for the percentage of fully vaccinated people age 12 or older.
Johnson County is the state's top vaccinated county, according to the data.
There are 578 Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19, with 158 needing intensive care. State data on Wednesday showed that 88% of those in an intensive care unit are unvaccinated, and 79.4% of those hospitalized are unvaccinated.
The state reported 20 long-term care outbreaks in the state, but no longer provides data on individual outbreaks.
Kyle Ocker is the editor of the Ottumwa Courier and the Oskaloosa Herald. He can be reached at kocker@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kyle_Ocker.
