Another week brought another new record for COVID cases in Marshall County, with a whopping 565 of them confirmed in the last seven days as the Omicron variant continues to spread across the state and the globe.

By comparison, six months ago in July of 2021, there were just 731 new cases in the entire state of Iowa and 17 in Marshall County. Along with the county, the state broke an all-time record for new cases in a week with a total of 38,574. An additional death has also been reported in Marshall County, bringing the total to 96 since the start of the pandemic.

Last week, the Biden administration announced that free at-home COVID test kits could be ordered (up to four per household) through the United States Postal Service (USPS) website, and additionally, 400 million N95 masks — which are considered more effective against the Omicron variant — will be available for free at local pharmacies and health centers.

The Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD) reported a record number of new cases among students and staff last Friday, and during Tuesday night’s school board morning, Superintendent Theron Schutte said the surge had exacerbated staffing issues to the worst they’d been since November of 2020.

According to the Iowa Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 website, Marshall County’s positivity rate has increased to 20 percent. At presstime, 63.3 percent of the county’s population was considered fully vaccinated, a 0.6 percent increase. Marshall County has the sixth highest vaccination rate of any county in the state, higher than any of its neighbors.

Around the state, there have been 116 new deaths reported in the last seven days, and 991 patients are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 — 182 of them in intensive care units (ICUs) and 166 admitted in the last 24 hours as of Wednesday afternoon. Individuals who are not fully vaccinated make up 72 percent of COVID patients in ICUs and 64 percent of patients hospitalized due to COVID.

There are currently 63 active outbreaks in long-term care facilities, a sharp increase from last week’s total of 41.

COVID-19 IN MARSHALL COUNTY

• Seven day percent of positive test rate: 20 percent

• Seven day number of cases: 565

• CDC transmission level: HIGH

• Eligible and Fully vaccinated: 63.3 percent

• New deaths this week: 1

• Total deaths: 96

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.