The Iowa Department of Public Health’s Coronavirus dashboard, today (Thursday) shows there are 977 new, positive cases of COVID-19 in test results since 10-a.m. Wednesday, for a pandemic total of 322,513. The IDPH says there were 58 additional deaths recorded over the previous 24 hours, for a pandemic total of 5,033. Officials attributed 4,555 deaths to an Underlying Cause, while COVID was a contributing factor in 478 deaths. In western and southwest Iowa, there was one additional death reported in each of Madison and Shelby Counties.

Long-Term Care (LTC) facility data show there are 47 current outbreaks among those facilities in Iowa. Those facilities account for 1,365 of Iowa’s positive cases, while 841 LTC patients have recovered from the virus. LTC deaths make up 2,064 of the State’s total number of deaths.

The IDPH reports there are 360 people hospitalized with COVID symptoms. Officials say 77 COVID patents are in an intensive care unit (ICU), the number of patients admitted over the past 24-hours is 54, and there are 31 people on a ventilator. In RMCC Region 4 (Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa),  25 are hospitalized with COVID symptoms, 10 are in an ICU, five were admitted since, and three people are on a ventilator.

The Health Dept. reports also, 275,706 doses of the vaccine have been administered. Of those doses, 137,242 persons have received their first, or initial dose, while 69,232 have received their second dose.  The State’s 14-day positivity rate is 9.3%, and the seven-day average is 7.4%. A total of 290,011 Iowans have recovered from the virus.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County; The # of new cases since yesterday {+} – if any; and the total number of deaths in each county to date:

• Cass, 1,197 cases; {+8}; 46 deaths
• Adair, 717; {+6}; 24
• Adams, 310; {+0}; 3
• Audubon, 440 {+1}; 9
• Guthrie, 1,061 {+2}; 27
• Harrison County, 1,624; {+7}; 67
• Madison County, 1,322; {+4}; 13
• Mills County, 1,414; {+8}; 20
• Montgomery, 930; {+2}; 32
• Pottawattamie County, 9,418; {+18}; 130
• Shelby County, 1,106; {+2}; 30
• Union County,  1,153; {+2}; 29