Breaking News

COVID-19

Unvaccinated youth is Iowa’s first case of omicron variant

DES MOINES — Iowa health officials on Thursday confirmed the first case of the omicron coronavirus variant in the state. The case involves an unvaccinated person under the age of 18 who lives in Black Hawk County in eastern Iowa. The individual has no symptoms but because of travel exposure the family sought testing based on public health guidance, health officials said. Omicron has been identified in at least 19 states. Scientists are working to determine whether omicron spreads more easily or causes more severe disease than the delta variant that now dominates in the U.S. They ...

‘Staffing crisis’ grips Iowa hospitals as COVID cases climb

A recent job posting that seeks temporary critical care nurses for a major Des Moines hospital offered pay of $100 per hour and a weekly stipend of about $1,200 for three months of work. The demand for so-called “traveling nurses” from other states has risen as longstanding nursing ...

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations continue to rise

Iowa is experiencing its highest number of active COVID hospitalizations in nearly a year. There are 777 COVID-19 related hospitalizations in the state according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. The last time hospitalizations were higher was Dec. 8, 2020. The 777 total ...

Iowa coronavirus cases increasing; 721 people hospitalized

DES MOINES — Iowa is continuing to see a high level of cortonavirus cases with the number of confirmed infections rising significantly in the past week, according to state Department of Public Health data released Monday. The agency reported 12,254 confirmed positive cases in the past ...

New COVID variant reaches U.S.

Omicron, a new variant of COVID-19, has been discovered in five states this week. The new strain, which was first reported in South Africa, was found in San Francisco on Wednesday in the first known case to reach the U.S. Since then, cases have been discovered in New York, Colorado, Hawaii ...

COVID hospitalizations keep climbing in Iowa

The number of COVID-19 related hospitalizations is dramatically increasing across the state, with 721 patients currently hospitalized according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. In the last 24 hours, 125 patients have been admitted to the hospital, and 527 patients have COVID as their primary diagnosis. There are also 172 COVID patients in intensive care, up 26 from a week ago. Only about 25 percent of inpatient hospital beds are available. Nineteen long term care facilities are classified as currently experiencing an outbreak, though IDPH no longer reports the locations of ...