Marshall County recorded its highest number of COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, with 21 new cases reported, for a total of 65 positive tests.

The numbers reported by the Iowa Department of Public Health on Thursday show 49 cases, but are not up-to-date.

The Marshall County Public Health staff is investigating each case and checking with their household contacts to see if any are also showing symptoms. It is important to track if there is any link among the positive cases. The investigation is ongoing and information is not yet complete.

“When cases of COVID-19 first began being reported in Iowa, they were related to travel outside the state,” said Marshall County Public Health Director, Pat Thompson. “Now, however, there is widespread community transmission. This means the virus is spreading from person-to-person, and often without known contact with a positive case.”

Iowa Code Chapter 22 prohibits the release of information that could lead to the identification of an individual or facility. Marshall County Public Health is following Iowa law by not releasing information such as the town where an individual lives. Some states have different confidentiality laws; regardless, information related to where an individual lives or has visited is not essential in protecting the public’s health during the COVID-19 outbreak.

COVID-19 is circulating widely in the state and in Marshall County. A resident’s chance of being exposed to the virus is high, regardless of contact with a confirmed case.

All residents are advised to stay home as much as possible, and when they must leave for essential errands like groceries or to get medication, they maintain a 6-foot distance from other individuals and avoid groups of people. This is because the risk of exposure to the virus is NOT limited to exposure to a known case; you could just as easily be exposed to an undiagnosed individual who is at the grocery store.

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19:

• Stay home as much as possible.

• Go alone on essential errands like getting groceries or prescriptions and maintain social distancing.

• Practice social distancing by staying 6-feet away from other individuals. Avoid groups of more than 10 people – five people in some communities like Marshalltown.

• Consider wearing a CDC recommended cloth face covering when running essential errands to protect others in case you are infected with COVID-19 and have no symptoms, or have not yet developed symptoms. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html

For up-to-date information on COVID-19, visit the IDPH webpage at https://idph.iowa.gov/Emerging-Health-Issues/Novel-Coronavirus and follow the department on Facebook at @IowaDepartmentOfPublicHealth and on Twitter at @IAPublicHealth