Hunter
04/08/20
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced Wednesday that another county has been infected by the coronavirus, bringing the total to 79 of the state’s 99 counties.
The number of new cases continues to rise; Reynolds says the total is now 1145. Linn County continues to have the most cases, adding another 11 to total 197; Johnson County had another 13 cases for a total of 147; and Polk County added 9 for a total of 134. They are the only three counties with over 100 confirmed cases.
122 Iowans are currently hospitalized and receiving treatment. 431 have recovered, and there were no new deaths announced.
12,821 people have been tested and came back negative.
There was good news from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington; the expected peak nationally is now Easter Sunday, and they’ve lowered forecasted deaths due to COVID-19 to 60,415 by August 4th. Iowa’s expected peak has now been moved up to April 26th and 565 deaths are projected by August.
The Centers for Disease Control is still encouraging social distancing and sheltering in place whenever possible, saying that these measures are mainly responsible for the downturn.
Updates are available on the Iowa Department of Public Health website, www.idph.iowa.gov.