Iowa coronavirus deaths continued to increase in the past two weeks as the state ends November posting 687 deaths. That’s a 34% increase from the 512 deaths reported in October. Iowa reported 28 additional deaths on Monday (Today), pushing the state total to 2,403. The IDPH says 1,336 of those who died had a preexisiting medical condition. Long-Term Care (LTC) facility deaths account for 1,063 deaths statewide.

There were 1,200 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours,  for a pandemic total of 228,996. Hospitalizations continued to fall but some health care officials are expressing concern that they may rise again if Thanksgiving gatherings caused additional virus spread as expected. Hospitalization data show: 1,162 Iowans are in a hospital facility; 224 COVID patients are in an ICU (Compared to 235 Sunday); 138 were admitted (compared to 131 Sunday), and 147 COVID patients are on a ventilator. Hospitals in southwest/western Iowa (RMCC Region 4) report: 63 hospitalized (Compared to 56 yesterday);  16 are in an ICU; nine were admitted (Compared to 7 Sunday), and eight COVID patients are on a ventilator.

LTC data show: a record 156 current outbreaks; 4,950 patients/staff have tested positive; 2,077 have tested negative. Area LTC data show: 211 positive cases and 129 recoveries at the three facilities in Cass County; 127 positive and 22 recovered in Shelby County (2 facilities); 139 positive and 117 recovered in Harrison County (1 facility); and 232 positive cases along with 75 recoveries at three LTC’s in Pottawattamie County.

Iowans who have recovered from the virus number 132,210, while 1,211,086 have been tested, to-date. There were 3,786 lab results returned yesterday, with 2,923 negative results and 853 positive. The individual positivity rate is 18.9%, and the 14-day rolling average is 17.8%. Cass County’s positivity rate is 19.2%. A total of 979, 932 negative results have been returned since the pandemic began. The IDPH says 132,212 Iowans have recovered from the virus.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county, along with the 24-hour change in case numbers {+#}; the number of persons recovered, and the total number of [deaths] (if any), since the pandemic began,

• Cass, 816 cases {+8}; 507 recovered; 23 deaths
• Adair, 441;{+1} 229; 8
• Adams, 170 {+1}; 87; 2
• Audubon, 296 {+1}; 195; 2
• Guthrie, 754 {+2); 439; 15
• Harrison County, 1,077 {+10}; 723; 29
• Madison County, 686 {+6}; 398; 4
• Mills County, 1,048 {+8}; 488; 7
• Montgomery, 463 {+1}; 212; 11
• Pottawattamie County, 6,319 {+74]; 3,594; 70
• Shelby County, 765 {+3}; 443; 11
• Union County,  772 {+5}; 303; 6