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IOWA — The Iowa Department of Public Health is reporting another sharp decline in a key metric of new cases of COVID-19 and fewer patients hospitalized who’ve tested positive for the virus while also confirming another 172 deaths due to it.

According to the weekly report posted on Wednesday, IPDH has confirmed the deaths of another 172 Iowan over the last four months. That raises the statewide death toll from COVID-19 to 8,829 persons.

IDPH reports 617 people who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 were hospitalized in the state as of midnight on Wednesday. That includes 96 in the ICU. This is the first time since mid-August 2021 that fewer than 100 people who’ve tested positive for the virus have been hospitalized in intensive care in Iowa. 65% of those current ICU patients are unvaccinated.

State labs have confirmed 11,547 positive cases of the virus in the last seven days. That is thousands fewer than the previous seven day period. The state’s average positive rate for the last two weeks has slipped to 15.9% – that’s a 1.1% drop in two days.

At the same time, the state is confirming more outbreaks of the virus at long term care facilities. There are now outbreaks at 114 facilities, two more than the previous report.