After holiday weekend, Cerro Gordo County public health director expects COVID-19 case numbers to continue to swell

MASON CITY — Cerro Gordo County’s public health director says he expects to see COVID-19 case numbers continue to swell after all the activity of the Independence Day holiday last weekend.

Brian Hanft says with a number of people congregated together, he anticipates the number of positive cases will rise substantially in the next couple of weeks.  “What we anticipate is after seeing all the pictures of the boats on the lake this weekend is we’re going to see a substantial increase in numbers over the next two weeks. People should be paying attention. People should be trying to follow these guidelines and these rules.”

Hanft continues to stress to people that they follow social distancing guidelines when interacting with others.  “After seeing a lot of the activity in the lake over the weekend, it’s a little difficult to think about because of the amount of contacts that have been happening outside and in our recreational spaces. I don’t stop emphasizing the need for people to take those precautions because we’re getting calls by the dozens now in our office that need to be followed up on that are positive. Trust me, it will impact you, it will impact your family and everyone else around you when a positive case comes through.”

The number of positive COVID-19 cases in Cerro Gordo County between June 10th and July 10th has increased from 36 to 228. Of those 228 cases, 43% of those are in the 18-40 age group, 19% aged 41-60, 18% age 61-80, 13% over the age of 80, and 8% under the age of 18.