IDPH graph.
The Covid patient count in Iowa hospitals has reached 777, another record high for 2021. It’s a 7% increase since last Wednesday.
“We continue to struggle, as many hospitals in Iowa have continued to struggle, with making sure that we have beds for the patients that need them,” says Theresa Brennan, the chief medical officer at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Brennan says the hospital continues to prepare for more Covid patients — including transfers from other hospitals — while employees are exhausted from the pandemic.
“We’re working with the hospitals in Iowa to try to make sure that the sickest patients have the right bed to get the care that they need, but it is a struggle,” she says.
On Tuesday, the hospital on the University of Iowa campus had 40 adult Covid patients and three pediatric patients, under the age of 18, with the virus. Nearly 120 other patients with flu and Covid symptoms were screened by telephone or video conference yesterday according to the hospital’s website.
As of today, the Iowa Department of Public Health has confirmed 7550 Iowans have died of Covid.
(By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio/Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson)