Covid patient count in Iowa hospitals increasing

DES MOINES — The pace of vaccinations appears to be trending up slightly in Iowa as the number of patients hospitalized in Iowa with Covid grows.

In the past 40 days, the number of Covid patients in Iowa hospitals has grown from 46 to more than 200 — a 77% increase. The Iowa Department of Public Health’s weekly report shows the state averaged about 500 new cases of Covid in each of the past seven days. That’s about 7% higher than daily case counts a year ago.

The state website shows 47.2% of Iowans are fully vaccinated — a three-tenths of a percent increase from the previous week.

Here in the north-central Iowa medical region, there are seven people currently hospitalized with COVID, with one of those patients being in an intensive care unit and being on a ventilator.