DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Coronavirus infections continued a rapid spread across the state Friday, pushing hospitalizations and patients in intensive care to new highs as Iowa medical centers prepared for an onslaught of patients.
Iowa public health officials reported 3,533 new confirmed cases Friday and 14 more deaths.
The seven-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Iowa has risen over the past two weeks from 27% on Oct. 22 to nearly 42% on Nov. 5, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers, keeping Iowa’s rate second in the nation behind South Dakota.
The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals reached a new high of 912 and those in intensive care units remained at the highest levels since the beginning of the pandemic at 188.
Officials at the state’s largest hospital systems are warning Iowans that if the current infection rate continues, they will be overwhelmed with patients. Their preparations for the surge are forcing them to curtail other medical procedures, shift personnel from surgical duties to intensive care and expand ICU beds.
Officials in Polk County, the state’s largest population center, which includes Des Moines, said Friday that virus transmission is rapid statewide and is placing a strain on hospitals.
Polk County Health Department Director Helen Eddy said the county is on track to triple the positive case numbers from the first peak in the spring, and that is leading to extremely high hospitalizations.
Dr. Nicole Gilg, chief of the primary care clinic section at Broadlawns Medical Center, said patients she’s diagnosed often know where they contracted the virus. They’ve cited happy hour at a bar, barbecue with friends, large family gatherings and letting down their guard in break rooms at work.
“We cannot outrun this. There truly is no other option at this point. It very simply comes down to avoiding others,” she said.
Polk County Supervisor Angela Connolly said wearing masks is the only current equivalent to a vaccine until a real vaccine is available.
“I would love it if we had a statewide mask mandate,” said Connelly, a Democrat. “I say we need to do whatever we can to make it stop. If it’s mandating a mask, I say we try it.”
Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds has refused to impose a mask mandate and has largely allowed other restrictions on businesses to lapse.
The state reported 75 of Iowa’s 99 counties have a positivity rate exceeding 15%, a high rate of spread that should prompt government mitigation efforts, according to World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
Reynolds again Thursday declined to implement any new measures. She announced a media campaign encouraging Iowans to take responsibility and stop the spread.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.