COVID deaths in Iowa pass 7000, KGLO News listening area 400 — positivity rates in last week climb

MASON CITY — New state public health data shows Iowa has surpassed 7,000 deaths from COVID-19, while the latest data shows the KGLO News listening area has topped the 400 COVID death mark.

The Iowa Department of Public Health on Wednesday reported 104 additional deaths from COVID happening between August 8th and October 30th, with nine of those deaths happening in the listening area of Cerro Gordo and the eight surrounding counties. Four new deaths were reported in Cerro Gordo County, three more in Wright County, with single deaths being reported in Winnebago and Worth counties. That brings the area total to 402 since the start of the pandemic.

After a slight dip last week, the seven-day and 14-day positivity rates in north-central Iowa leaped up over the last week. The seven-day rate in our listening area increased from 7% last week to 9.4% this week, while the 14-day rate jumped from 6.7% to 8.4%. The highest positivity rates this week are in the western part of our listening area, where the seven-day rate is at 18.4% in Wright County, 13.7% in Hancock County and 13.2% in Winnebago County.

There were 548 new COVID cases identified over the last week in north-central Iowa, up from 431 new cases a week ago.

In the north-central Iowa medical region, 31 people are currently hospitalized, down from 36 last week at this time. Of those 31, 20 were not fully vaccinated.