70 more Iowans died of COVID-19, a new record for single-day deaths

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – The Iowa Department of Public Health reported a new record for single-day COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, reporting an additional 70 Iowans have died from the virus.

The previous record was 47 reported deaths in a 24-hour period, set on November 25.

As of 10:30 a.m. on December 3, the state’s data shows a total of 2,519 Iowans have died due to COVID-19, and a total of 236,792 Iowans have tested positive for the virus. There were 2,926 additional positive tests over the last 24 hours.

According to the data the state makes available, the positivity rate over the last 24 hours was 41.7 percent.

COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to decline across the state, as 1,124 total hospitalizations were reported as of this morning. 136 Iowans were admitted to the hospital over the last 24 hours. Of those hospitalized, 224 are in the ICU and 131 are on ventilators.

Editor’s note: this story was updated to reflect that the 70 COVID-19 deaths were reported by the state on Thursday but did not happen on Thursday.

Copyright 2020 KCRG. All rights reserved.