Marshall County nears 60 COVID-19 deaths
Cases rising in the U.S.
Known cases and deaths from COVID-19 are again on the rise in the United States.
The number of cases being discovered across the country has sharply increased in the last week with the total number of known cases surpassing 20 million this week. On Tuesday there were 238,270 new cases diagnosed and the seven-day average for new cases per day is 225,997, according to USAFacts.org.
To date, 350,678 people have died with COVID-19 infection in the U.S., including 3,501 reported Tuesday. The seven-day average deaths per day is 2,698.
Marshall County added three to its death toll this week, reaching 58 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. Iowa surpassed 4,000 deaths Wednesday, reaching 4,060. Another five deaths were added Thursday, though the state’s reporting of deaths has shown significant lags in reporting. There were 1,906 new cases reported by IDPH Thursday, bringing the state’s total to 291,370. IDPH reports 251,661 recoveries but cases are automatically reported as recovered after 28 days. Cases of patients being hospitalized with COVID-19 for 50 days or more have been found in several instances in the U.S. and abroad, including a 61-year-old woman in Kentucky who was in the Baptist Hospital in Louisville for 58 days.
USAFacts.org reports a seven-day average of 1,390 new cases and 27 deaths per day in Iowa. Cases had been on the decline since mid-November, around the time Gov. Kim Reynolds increased mitigation efforts including occupancy limits at bars and restaurants and mask requirements. On Dec. 16, Reynolds announced she would ease those efforts, lifting gathering limits and mandatory 10 p.m. closing times for bars and restaurants.
However, cases have been on the rise steadily since Dec. 31.
IDPH reports a 14.5 percent 14-day average rate of infection in Iowa which increased from 14.1 percent on Wednesday. Marshall County’s 14 day positivity rate is 8.3 percent.
There are 613 patients hospitalized with coronavirus infection, including 97 admitted in the last 24 hours. Of those hospitalized, 119 are in intensive care and 52 are on a ventilator.
Sixty-nine percent of those hospitalized — 425 people — are listed with COVID-19 as their primary diagnosis.
Twenty-five percent of the hospitalizations are in people 80 or older and 22 percent are 70-79. Three percent are 18-29 years old and 1 percent are 17 or younger.
Iowa has completed more than 1.9 million assessments. The largest portion of assessments were administered to 18-40 year olds — 38 percent. More than 59 percent of assessments were to females. In Marshall County, 5,705 assessments have been completed with the largest number of assessments — 37 percent — being to people aged 41-60.
ACCORDING TO IDPH DATA:
Race:
• Caucasian: 61 percent
• Hispanic or Latino: 6 percent
• African American: 3 percent
• Asian: 1 percent
Sex:
• Female: 52 percent
• Male: 46 percent
Age:
• 0-17: 13 percent
• 18-29: 19 percent
• 30-39: 16 percent
• 40-49: 14 percent
• 50-59: 14 percent
• 60-69: 12 percent
• 70-79: 6 percent
• 80 or older: 5 percent
Marshall County has the 15th highest number of total COVID-19 cases in Iowa
The counties with highest numbers include
CASES ACTIVE
Polk – 42,997 5,792
Linn – 17,083 1,529
Scott – 14,593 1,762
Black Hawk – 123,084 1,529
Woodbury – 12,582 1,147
Johnson – 11,486 1,249
Dubuque – 10,878 924
Pottawattamie – 8,575 1,165
Story – 7,952 894
Dallas – 8,278 1,199
Webster – 4,549 505
Cerro Gordo – 4,452 452
Sioux – 4,429 397
Clinton – 4,274 519
Marshall – 4,155 335
Contact Joe Fisher at jfisher@timesrepublican.com