All Iowa counties in ‘red zone’ for COVID-19 amid ‘inflexible’ spread, report says

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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Federal officials described an uncontrolled spread of the novel coronavirus in the state of Iowa in a new weekly report, with nearly all metrics deteriorating in the state from the previous week.

The document, released to all 50 states by the White House Coronavirus Task Force on Sunday, November 15, and obtained by ABC News on Tuesday, describes the spread of COVID-19 in Iowa as “exponential and inflexible.” The only statistic tracked by the report that improved during the week of November 8 to November 14, compared to the previous week, was the number of tests performed in the state.

The rate of new cases in Iowa places the state in the “red zone,” according to the task force, which is defined as a rate of new cases of at least 101 per 100,000 residents during the week. Iowa’s rate was the third highest in the country with 991 new cases per 100,000 population, an increase of 370 from the rate the week before. The national average was 294 per 100,000.

Polk County, Linn County and Scott County were the top three counties for the most new cases, accounting for 26.7% of the state’s total of 31,281 cases during the week. The total number of cases during the week was about 60% higher than the week before. Iowa performed more tests than the national average at 3,768 per 100,000 population, and the number of tests increased 19% to 118,881. The national average screening rate during the week was 2,676 percent 000 inhabitants.

Officials said 132 deaths had occurred in the state during the reporting period, 20% more than the number shown in the previous weekly report. The death rate in Iowa, at 4.2 per 100,000 population, was 82% higher than the national average of 2.3 per 100,000 population for the week.

The test’s positivity rate for Iowa was 24.1% for the week, putting the condition well above the “red zone” threshold of positivity. The working group defines the red zone in this metric as a positivity rate greater than 10%. The rate rose 4.0% week-over-week and is the third highest rate in the country, averaging 10.1%. Iowa had placed fourth the week before.

Iowa counties highlighted as "yellow zone," "orange zone," or "Red zone," as defined by ... — Counties in Iowa highlighted as a “yellow zone,” “orange zone,” or “red zone,” as defined by the White House Coronavirus Task Force Weekly Report obtained by ABC News. Counties in the yellow zone indicate a moderate rate of transmission of COVID-19, while counties in the red zone indicate high rates of transmission. Counties in the orange zone fall between these two classifications. Color coding is determined by the rate of new cases as well as the positivity of the test. Data is November 8-14.(KCRG / via data obtained by ABC News)

The color categories for counties, as defined by the working group, are defined by both the rate of new cases and the rate of positivity. All 99 counties in Iowa are in the “red zone” for both the number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population and the 10% “red zone” threshold for test positivity. This is the first time the entire state has fallen into the red zone by county in the fall, according to the task force’s weekly reports.

Hospitalization increased 37% week over week, with 196 patients with confirmed COVID-19 and 45 with suspected COVID-19 admitted to state hospitals each day. More than 95% of the state’s hospitals admitted at least one patient with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 each day.

The spread of the new coronavirus in long-term care facilities has worsened from the previous week, according to the report. 20% of facilities had at least one new resident case, 54% had at least one new case on staff, and 8% of state long-term care facilities had at least one new resident who had died of the disease.

The task force recommended increasing mask use in all public places, which Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Monday night in a new statewide rule that included several important exceptions. Other recommendations included limiting restaurant capacity to 25%, which was not implemented by the governor’s office, and limiting bar hours, which was part of Monday’s proclamation.

The recommendations also included the use of masks for students and teachers at K-12 schools and the temporary cancellation of extracurricular activities, which the governor’s office said was not part of Monday’s proclamation.

People were advised to take “basic steps”, including not meeting with people outside their homes, always wearing a mask when in public, and getting the flu shot. The students, who were described by the task force as “letting their guards down,” were urged to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to limit the spread of the virus if they choose to return home for them. Thanksgiving holiday.

Screening was encouraged by the working group among asymptomatic populations under 40, including a suggestion to develop incentives for people under 40 who feel good to get tested in communities with the highest rate of spread.

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