1,190 COVID-19 hospitalizations in Iowa Wednesday, 26 deaths reported

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continued to reach record highs in Iowa on Tuesday. The Iowa Department of Public Health reported a new high of 1,190 COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Over the last 24 hours a record 230 patients were admitted to the hospital, where 210 are in the ICU and 101 are on ventilators. The state also reported an additional 4,764 cases and 26 COVID-19 related deaths over the last 24 hours.

As of 10:30 a.m. on November 11, the state’s data showed a total of 166,021 COVID-19 cases and a total of 1,898 COVID-19 related deaths since the pandemic began.

The latest report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force, obtained by ABC, shows Iowa in the red zone for cases and for test positivity. Iowa ranks the 4th highest state in the country for new cases per 100,000 people.

The report said 96 percent of the counties in Iowa have high levels of community transmission. It identified Polk, Linn and Scott Counties as the three counties in the state with the highest number of cases over the last three weeks. It also showed more than 40 percent of nursing homes in Iowa have COVID-positive staff.

The report recommended increased and proactive testing and surveillance as well as expanding antigen testing to identify and interrupt the spread of the virus.

Other recommendations include limiting restaurant indoor capacity to less than 50 percent and restricting hours until cases and test positivity decreases.

On Tuesday, Gov. Reynolds signed a proclamation extending the public health emergency for another 30 days. It also added additional public health measures including prohibiting public gatherings of more than 25 people indoors and 100 people outdoors unless everyone over the age of 2 wears a mask. See the rest of the measures here.

We are not reporting the number of tests conducted or the positivity rate because of recent revelations that the state doesn’t make all testing data available to the public, which can skew the positivity rate.

The public doesn’t have access to more complete data with the number of tests administered and the results of all those tests. That’s because right now, about 40 percent of people getting COVID-19 tests have been tested before, according to Paul Trombino, Gov. Kim Reynolds' chief operating officer and the interim director of the Department of Administrative Services.