(Des Moines) Positive cases of COVID-19 continue to surge in eastern and central Iowa. The Iowa Department of Public Health reported an additional 19 positive tests in Linn County, bringing its total to 90. Polk County recorded an additional 15 positive cases bringing the central Iowa County’s total to 76.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds responded to a question on how close she was to placing more stringent measures in Linn County and the eastern region of the state where positive cases are growing more rapidly than other portions of Iowa.
Reynolds noted one-third of the positive tests in Linn County are from the Heritage Specialty Care in Cedar Rapids.
Meanwhile, the western part of the state continues to report low numbers of COVID-19 positive cases. For example, Harrison, Pottawattamie, and Sioux counties reported a total of three additional cases, and Clay County, in northwest Iowa, reported one other positive test.
The Iowa Department of Public reported 73 additional positive cases of Iowans with COVID-19, for a total of 497 positive cases in Iowa. One death was reported in Muscatine County, a middle-aged (41-60) resident, bringing the death toll to seven. Out of the 73 positive cases, 726 were negative, bringing the total to 6,888, 61 people hospitalized, 85 have recovered, and there are currently 1,761 tests available at the State Hygienic Lab.
