(Des Moines) Governor Kim Reynolds gave an update on COVID-19 data at her press conference this morning.
Reynolds said between August 1st and August 19th, more than 108,600 Iowans were tested for COVID-19; nearly 99,400 of those tested were negative and 7,524 were positive, for a positivity rate of 6.9-percent so far this month.
Reynolds said over the last several weeks they have seen a gradual increase in hospitalization rates and long-term care facility outbreaks for a variety of reasons.
Reynolds said even if you are not sick, if you are not acting responsibly you could be spreading COVID-19.
Reynolds also addressed the COVID-19 reporting issue. She said yesterday they implemented a fix to resolve it.
Reynolds said the state’s all-time average positivity rate stayed the same at 9.4 percent; 79 of the counties will see a net decrease in their current 14-day positivity rate; and the remaining counties will see on average a less than one percent increase in their current 14-day positivity rate.
Reynolds said they will now be reporting the lab collection date rather than the result date. She said it is this change that caused the total number of cases reported today to appear lower than normal.
Reynolds thanks Iowans who use the data, who dig into it and raise questions when they have them. She said it helps them constantly improve the data and the transparency that they’re striving to provide Iowans through the pandemic.
