DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Hospitalizations in Iowa continued to accelerate Wednesday, reaching new highs with 777 people in hospitals and 164 additional people admitted in the past 24 hours.
Another record was set in the past 24 hours with 182 people in intensive care with serious COVID-19 illness.
Iowa doctors and hospital administrators have recently sounded alarms that the increasing virus infections will soon overwhelm hospitals. Many are already dealing with high rates of virus infections among hospital staff, further reducing the ability to care for patients with the virus or unrelated illnesses.
Data posted by the Iowa Department of Public Health shows no sign of an improving situation.
More than 2,800 new confirmed cases were identified Wednesday and 26 additional deaths, raising the state total to 1,781.
More than 60 counties have a positivity rate above 15%. None of Iowa’s 99 counties had a rate below 8%
The seven-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Iowa has risen over the past two weeks from about 26% on Oct. 20 to nearly 39% on Nov. 3, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. That rate places Iowa second in the nation behind South Dakota, which had a rate over 50%.
The state had 84 long term care facilities reporting outbreaks.
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