Declines of Iowa COVID cases and hospitalizations continue

The number of state-reported cases of COVID-19 dipped slightly over the past week, and hospitalizations among those infected are trending downward, according to state and federal data.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 4,109 new cases on Wednesday, a 2% decline from a week ago.

There were 232 infected people receiving inpatient treatment at Iowa hospitals that day, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services data.

That’s a sizeable decline from last week’s 270, but hospitalizations can fluctuate significantly day to day. A New York Times analysis shows that the state has recently been averaging about 255 inpatients, down from 326 in early August.

Of those hospitalized Wednesday, 21 were under intensive care.

The state also reported 26 new deaths among those who were infected by the coronavirus, for a total of 9,994 since the start of the pandemic.

More than half of Iowa’s counties have a medium or high threat of infection, according to an analysis of infection and hospitalization rates by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those counties are mostly in the northern half of the state and in eastern Iowa.