(Radio Iowa) – Northwest Iowa’s Sioux County continues to have the highest coronavirus positivity rate in Iowa. At 5 p.m. today (Wednesday), the state’s online dashboard indicated Sioux County’s Covid positivity rate was 27 percent. Reporter Mark Buss has checked with the county’s public health agency, which is called Community Health Partners:

In an email response from Community Health Partners, officials there say they’ve been closely watching the 14-day positivity rate over the last month and are very concerned about it. They say they have been working with the Iowa Department of Public Health to help evaluate what is driving Sioux County’s percentage rates up. They know for sure the county’s experiencing community spread. At this time, however, they do not have any data to support that there has been a specific outbreak, nor do they have any data to suggest the colleges are driving this number. CHP will make a statement when they have those answers.

Two of the counties that are adjacent to Sioux County have the second and third highest Covid positivity rates. Lyon County’s rate is nearly 22 percent. Plymouth County’s is 16 percent.