901 more COVID-19 cases in Iowa, including another 22 in Johnson County; 6 more deaths reported statewide

Zach Thompson
Iowa City Press-Citizen

At 10 a.m. Saturday, Iowa was reporting an additional 901 cases of COVID-19 and six additional COVID-19-related deaths since the state's tally at 10 a.m. Friday, according to Coronavirus.Iowa.gov.

Officials report a total of 1,264 people with COVID-19 have died from the disease across the state, including 27 in Johnson County. A death reported Tuesday was the first since a pair of deaths were reported Aug. 27 — the county's 17th and 18th in a six-week stretch. Between June and the first part of July, the county had gone more than seven weeks without reporting a death related to the disease; the first was reported on April 4.

Officials reported just 99 influenza-related deaths across the entire state in the 2019-20 flu season, and the novel coronavirus is on track to be the third-leading cause of death in Iowa in 2020, behind just heart disease and cancer, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

A total of 732,186 Iowans have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus, which causes the disease, including 37,536 in Johnson County. A total of 79,128 have tested positive in Iowa. The state was reporting a total of 4,967 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Johnson County, an increase of 22 since 10 a.m. Friday.

Friday afternoon, the University of Iowa reported another 43 cases of COVID-19 had been self-reported by students since Wednesday, totaling 1,879 cases since Aug. 18. Officials also reported Friday another case among the university's faculty and staff, totaling 33 cases among its employees this semester.

The university also reported no students living in residence halls are currently being quarantined, but 21 are self-isolating.

► More: Here's what we know about coronavirus cases, students in quarantine at Iowa, Iowa State and UNI

How many COVID-19 cases are at the University of Iowa? Here's how to track the cases over time.

As of 10 a.m. Saturday, the state was reporting that 66 people were hospitalized with the virus in the state's fifth RMCC, which includes Clinton, Des Moines, Henry, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Keokuk, Lee, Muscatine, Scott, Van Buren, Wapello and Washington counties, one more than what was reported Friday morning. The region hit a peak of 91 hospitalized patients on Aug. 25.

Twenty-six patients were being cared for in the region's intensive care units Saturday morning, according to the site. The number of patients receiving ICU-level care returned to levels not seen since April 23 late last month, with 36 patients. The region hit a peak of 39 ICU patients on April 22.

According to the state, the region has 393 general hospital beds and 56 ICU beds available for area coronavirus patients.

A total of 21 people incarcerated at Iowa Medical and Classification Center and eight staff members were positive for the disease at 10 a.m. Saturday. Another 276 inmates and 28 employees have tested positive and since recovered.

A spike in cases at the Coralville facility was first reported on Aug. 18. One of the inmates at the facility, Richard Leroy Peters, 77, died Sept. 6. Peters was the fourth person under Iowa Department of Corrections supervision to die from complications related to COVID-19, but just the first at the Coralville facility.

The state also continues to report an outbreak at Solon's Nursing Care Center, where 38 cases have been confirmed; 27 have recovered.

► Coronavirus cases are increasing in Iowa: Here's how to track COVID-19 in Johnson County

Coronavirus in Iowa, by the numbers

Numbers reported by the state for Johnson County and all of Iowa, respectively, as of 10 a.m. Saturday. Numbers in parentheses represent change over the previous 24 hours.

  • Total tested: 37,536 (+262); 732,186 (+6,121)
  • Total confirmed: 4,967 (+22); 79,128 (+901)
  • Johnson County's 14-day average positivity rate: 7.3%
  • Total recoveries: 2,459 (+70); 57,228 (+754)
  • Total deaths: 27 (-); 1,264 (+6)
  • Hospitalized in RMCC Region 5: 66 (-1)
  • Receiving ICU care in RMCC Region 5: 26 (-)

RMCC Region 5 includes Clinton, Des Moines, Henry, Iowa, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Keokuk, Lee, Muscatine, Scott, Van Buren, Wapello and Washington counties.

Source: Iowa Department of Public Health

Zach Thompson is the editor of the Press-Citizen and can be reached at zthompson@press-citizen.com. Follow him on Twitter at @zthomp.

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