Reported Iowa COVID cases, hospitalizations decline slightly

The rate of new coronavirus infections documented by the state in the past week sagged slightly and hospitalizations have waned, according to state and federal data.

There were 5,768 new cases — or about 825 per day — reported by the Iowa Department of Public Health on Wednesday. That’s about a 3% decrease from the previous week’s tally, which was a new peak for the summer.

The IDPH data does not include the results of at-home rapid tests, which are not reported to the state.

The state also reported 35 new deaths among those who were infected with COVID-19, for a total of 9,817 since the start of the pandemic.

About two-thirds of the state is now deemed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to have a medium or high threat of infection, according to a CDC report late last week. Those ratings are based on per-capita infection and hospitalization rates.

The Des Moines metro area and much of southwest Iowa had low threats of infection, according to the report.

The number of infected people who are receiving inpatient treatment at Iowa hospitals has declined in the past week, according to the New York Times. Federal hospital data was not immediately available.

The Times reports that the state is averaging about 260 COVID-19 inpatients compared with 295 a week ago.