This week’s report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force shows Iowa currently has the sixth highest rate of Covid transmission in the country.
The state’s coronavirus website shows 449 Covid patients were in an Iowa hospital Wednesday night, topping Tuesday night’s all time record number of 444 patients.
More than 1,500 people were notified in the past 24 hours that their Covid test came back positive. In 15 counties — all outside of the state’s metro areas — 15 percent or more of those who’ve been tested in the past two weeks had Covid. Lyon, Sioux, Taylor and Page Counties top the list with positivity rates above 20 percent.
The White House Coronavirus Task Force report indicated “community transmission has remained high” in Iowa for the past month, with “many preventable deaths.” The state website shows 1419 Iowans have died of Covid since March.