The number of Covid patients in Iowa hospitals has increased 20 percent in the past week, to nearly 500 last night. For the first time since January, an average of more than a thousand Iowans tested positive for Covid each day this past week.
Earlier this summer, the Iowa Department of Public Health began updating the state’s coronavirus website just once a week. The data posted around midnight indicated 133 Covid positive patients were in an Iowa hospital’s ICU and state officials say 86% of them hadn’t been vaccinated.
The pace of vaccinations in Iowa has dipped in the past week after climbing a bit earlier this month. The state’s coronavirus website shows 48.6% of Iowa residents are fully vaccinated.
The Iowa Department of Public Health has confirmed 42 Iowans died of Covid in the past four weeks — between July 24 and this past Sunday, August 22.