For a time, it seemed as though in mid-June, Iowa was winning the war against COVID-19, with the positivity rates falling to 2-percent or less, depending on the day. Now (As of July 26th), however, the 14-day positivity rate has increased to 4.6%, and the seven-day rate is 4.2-percent. Positive tests (PT) over the last seven-days have increased in several area counties:

Cass – 7 total PT (10% rate); Adair – 6 TP (17%); Adams – three PT (11% rate); Guthrie – 2 PT (4% positivity rate); Harrison –  5 PT (17%); Madison – 3 PT (5%); Mills – 1 PT (3%); Montgomery – 4 PT (10%); Shelby 4 PT (9%). (See the County pandemic totals below). Fortunately, the number of deaths since June 25th in southwest Iowa have not increased as dramatically, with most counties reporting no change in the statistics. One month ago, the pandemic death toll stood at 6,124. The latest Coronavirus dashboard data show 6,170 people have died from COVID.

There are two Long-Term Care (LTC) outbreaks in Iowa. The number of persons hospitalized with COVID in Iowa, has increased from a low of 46 on June 25th, to 106 as of July 26th. Health officials report 39 patients are in an ICU, 23 were admitted over the past 24-hours, and 13 patients are on a ventilator. In RMCC Region 4 (which was down to zero hospitalizations, no ICU patients, zero new admissions, and no one on a ventilator on June 25th), there are currently nine hospitalized, 3 in an ICU, 3 were admitted, and one person was on a ventilator.

In the immediate KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases by County (since the beginning of the pandemic) and the total number of deaths (Since the beginning of the pandemic) in each county to date:
Cass, 1,494 cases; 55 deaths
Adair, 1,027; 32
Adams, 360; 4
Audubon, 547; 13
Guthrie, 1,328; 32
Harrison County, 1,956; 73
Madison County, 1,820 19
Mills County, 1,806; 24
Montgomery, 1,149; 38
Pottawattamie County, 12,449;174
Shelby County, 1,337; 38
Union County, 1,376; 35