After a record breaking week in terms of new cases, the surge of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 both in Marshall County and across Iowa may finally be slowing.

The Marshall County Public Health Department reported 550 new local cases in the last seven days, a slight decline from the all-time record of 565 a week ago, and the statewide number was 34,979 after reaching a peak of 38,574 last week.

Pat Thompson, the county’s public health director, said she’s optimistic that the numbers signal a better outlook going forward, but that doesn’t mean all caution should be thrown to the wind.

“Hopefully things are trending down to a degree,” she said. “It’s not the time you can clean off the masks and throw them across the room. We’re not there yet.”

The seven-day positivity rate in Marshall County is still high at 17 percent, but there have been no new COVID related deaths reported in the last week. The rate of fully vaccinated residents in Marshall County also crept up from 63.3 percent to 63.7 percent, and Thompson said she’s happy to see people are still coming in to get vaccinated — better late than never. Overall, Marshall County has the sixth highest vaccination rate of any county in the state.

Thompson continues to encourage those who may be experiencing symptoms to get tested and stay home if necessary.

Statewide, 184 COVID related deaths have been reported in the last seven days, bringing the total to 8,501, and there are 929 COVID patients currently hospitalized. There are currently 86 outbreaks at long-term care facilities in Iowa.

COVID-19 IN MARSHALL COUNTY

• Seven day percent of positive test rate: 17 percent

• Seven day number of cases: 550

• CDC transmission level: HIGH

• Eligible and Fully vaccinated: 63.7 percent

• New deaths this week: 0

• Total deaths: 96

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com