Reported Iowa COVID cases dip 28% in one week

A precipitous decline in the number of documented COVID-19 infections continued this past week in Iowa, with state health officials reporting 2,091 new cases among those who were not previously infected, according to Iowa Department of Health and Human Services data.

That number reported Wednesday is a 28% decrease from a week ago, when the new cases were 29% less than the week before that.

But the total number of infections for the past week might have been as high as 2,713, based on state testing data. The state does not include infections of people who previously contracted the disease in its weekly case counts. Infections detected by at-home rapid tests are also not included in the case data.

The number of infected people who are receiving inpatient treatment at Iowa hospitals has also diminished. On Wednesday, 179 people were hospitalized, down from 219 the week before. Of those hospitalized Wednesday, 27 were under intensive care. That was an increase from 19 the week before.

The average number of people receiving inpatient treatment week-to-week in Iowa is about half what it was in early August, according to a New York Times analysis.

The state reported 26 new deaths on Wednesday among those who were infected recently. That is roughly steady compared with recent weeks, but death reports are often delayed by weeks or months. A total of 10,077 people have died in Iowa after contracting COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

The areas of the state with higher risks of infection include much of eastern Iowa, the northwest and north-central counties, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Four counties in southeast Iowa have the highest risks, including Appanoose, Davis, Des Moines and Monroe.