Iowa’s COVID-19 infection rate has doubled in the past two weeks | News, Sports, Jobs

OVID-19 infections per day in Iowa over the past week are nearly double the rate from two weeks ago, according to new data released Wednesday by the US Department of Public Health. Iowa.

The state reported 1,716 new confirmed cases last week, up from 900 two weeks ago. After the state’s pandemic peak in January, the infection rate bottomed out in late March at 478 for a single week.

The number of infected people receiving inpatient treatment at Iowa hospitals also rose to 84 this week, a 33% jump from the previous week, according to data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. Six people were in intensive care.

Iowa’s increase in infection rate is roughly on par with national trends. Public health officials in New York have said two highly contagious subvariants of omicron are likely to blame.

The number of new cases in Iowa is still significantly lower than the peak in January, when the state was confirming more than 5,000 a day. At one point, just over 1,000 infected people were receiving hospital treatment.

Despite the increase in the number of cases, the most recent report from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the level of community spread said it was low in all counties in Iowa. This report is expected to be updated on Thursday. The CDC ranks community spread in each county based on infection and hospitalization rates.

The IDPH also reported 19 new deaths among those infected, but it is unclear when these occurred. That number is about half of what the state reported last week.

Iowa’s COVID-19 infection rate has nearly doubled in the past two weeks