TopFeatured.com

DES MOINES, Iowa – Though numbers in several COVID-19 related categories are going down, according to new data from the Iowa Department of Public Health, the number of long-term care facilities in the state with outbreaks of the virus just keeps going up.

The latest update released Monday shows there are now 107 long-term care facilities in Iowa that are reporting outbreaks. That’s up from Friday when there were 95. That is nearly five times the number of facilities that were reported to have outbreaks at the end of December.

The IDPH said a facility is listed as having an outbreak when at least three residents test positive within 14 days. Once a facility is designated as having an outbreak, staff members that test positive are also included in the outbreak numbers.

The state no longer provides a public list of long-term care facilities with outbreaks. After a request from WHO 13, IDPH agreed to provide us a list each Wednesday of the facilities with outbreaks and the number of people affected. View the most recent list here.

The number of positive COVID-19 tests reported over the last seven days is 23,461. The statewide 14-day positivity rate has gone down to 22.9% from 24% on Friday.

Hospitalizations have also declined. The IDPH reported 849 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized statewide. That’s a decrease of 79 from Friday. Of those hospitalized with the virus, 130 are being treated in intensive care.

The total number of Iowans who have died from COVID-19 stands at 8,501. That number is updated by the IDPH each Wednesday.