TIMES-REPUBLICAN

Marshall County reported no new COVID-19 related deaths this week for the first time in nearly two months.

Fifty-three people have died in the county since the start of the pandemic. Across the state there are 3,668 who have died according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Fifty-eight percent of those who have died were 80 years old or older. Pre-existing conditions were present in 92 percent of deaths.

USAfacts.org reports 316,975 deaths in the United States and 3,652 in Iowa. Deaths per day, based on a seven-day average, have more than quadrupled since mid October with 3,802 people dying on Dec. 22.

Iowa has followed a similar track as the U.S. trend. On Dec. 17, the seven-day average deaths per day was 111.

But since the implementation of a statewide proclamation issued by Gov. Kim Reynolds requiring Iowans to take additional mitigation measures, the number of new cases has steadily declined.

Iowa has compiled 272,441 positive cases throughout the pandemic, 3,917 in Marshall County, according to IDPH. USAfacts.org puts Iowa at 269,020 known cases and Marshall County as 3,652.

Even with the spread of the virus slowing, long term care facilities and hospitals continue to be pushed to the brink.

There are 127 active outbreaks in Iowa’s long term care facilities. A large number of Iowa’s deaths, 1,137, have been attributed to long term care facilities. In Marshall County, Iowa Veterans Home is the only facility remaining in outbreak status. IDPH shows IVH with 144 positive cases and 127 recoveries, though the statistics are disputed and have appeared inconsistent.

There are 625 patients hospitalized with coronavirus infections in Iowa, including 127 in intensive care. In the last 24 hours 106 patients have been admitted. There are 70 people on ventilators.

Of hospitalized patients, 72 percent are hospitalized with COVID-19 infection as their primary diagnosis, amounting to 447 people. Patients 80 years old or older represent 32 percent of the hospitalizations which is the most of any age group. Patients 17 or younger account for 2 percent of hospitalizations which is an increase from last week.

As of Wednesday, more than 8,000 health care workers have received the Pfizer vaccine for COVID-19. It was reported last week Iowa would receive substantially less vaccine doses than expected — about 30 percent less. During a press conference Wednesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds attributed the shortage to a “planning error.” Meanwhile the Moderna vaccine was approved for emergency use on Dec. 18.

“While receiving less vaccines than initially estimated is disappointing, it doesn’t change the fact that at this very moment Iowans are being vaccinated; that two vaccines are now available in the U.S., changing the course of the pandemic — and that in a few more months the vaccines will be more widely available and life will begin to return to normal,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds also announced starting Monday vaccinations would begin to be administered to residents of long term care facilities.

Marshall County has the 15th highest number of total COVID-19 cases in Iowa

The counties with highest numbers include:

CUMULATIVE CASES ACTIVE CASES

Polk — 40,094 6,692

Linn — 16,219 2,061

Scott — 13,688 2,503

Black Hawk — 12,402 1,409

Woodbury — 11,984 1,533

Johnson — 10,754 1,348

Dubuque — 10,368 1,147

Pottawattamie — 8,014 1,602

Story — 7,816 984

Dallas — 7,636 1,310

Webster — 4,323 737

Sioux — 4,260 507

Cerro Gordo — 4,216 694

Clinton — 4,012 703

Marshall — 3,917 433

According to IDPH data:

Race:

• Caucasian: 61 percent

• Hispanic or Latino: 7 percent

• African American: 3 percent

• Asian: 2 percent

Sex:

• Female: 52 percent

• Male: 46 percent

Age:

• 0-17: 14 percent

• 18-29: 19 percent

• 30-39: 15 percent

• 40-49: 14 percent

• 50-59: 15 percent

• 60-69:11 percent

• 70-79: 7 percent

• 80 or older: 6 percent

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Contact Joe Fisher at 641-753-6611 or jfisher@timesrepublican.com