(Des Moines) Governor Kim Reynolds at her press conference this morning said the increase in virus activity and community spread continues across the state. She said Iowa is seeing an increase in hospitalizations as a result.
“Yesterday we reached an all-time high of 444 Iowans hospitalized across the state and this is disappointing news and sadly it’s what can happen when we are experiencing community spread,” stated Reynolds.
Reynolds said even though positive cases are more evenly distributed across age groups in many areas where virus activity is high, it’s the vulnerable population that remains most impacted.
“In the last 14 days, 72 percent of all individuals hospitalized are over the age of 60 and 68 percent have pre-existing health conditions,” said Reynolds.
Reynolds said yesterday her team spoke with health care providers across the state to better understand the situation on the ground.
“They assured us that they are able to manage the capacity and they have the resources that they need and most importantly that they’re prepared,” stated Reynolds. “I have said this several times, but the unprecedented coordination and collaboration between our health care systems has really been impressive and it is allowing us to manage these increased numbers.”
Reynolds said even though the number of Iowans hospitalized is the highest it’s been, we have not approached the peak of our hospital capacity. She said after seven months of treating COVID-19 our doctors, nurses and other health care professionals are experienced in treating the virus and they now have access to new therapeutics and different treatment options to help patients recover sooner.
