Iowa reports more than 11,000 new COVID-19 cases in the past week and an additional 64 deaths

September 16, 2021 3oliver

Nearly 12,000 Iowans tested positive for the coronavirus during the last seven days — the most since January, the state reported Wednesday.

The Iowa Department of Public Health added 11,723 COVID-19 cases to its total, an average of 1,675 per day.

On average, an Iowan was reported positive for COVID-19 about once every 50 seconds over the past seven days. This week’s new reported cases are up nearly 40% over the previous week’s 8,404.

Of this week’s new cases, about 3,400 were children, who once again were the age group with the most new cases this week.

In addition, the health department reported 64 more COVID-19 deaths, the most in one week since a large set of deaths were reported in April. There have now been 6,401 COVID-19 deaths in Iowa since the start of the pandemic. COVID-19 deaths are often reported in the state’s public dashboard a week or more after the death actually occurs.

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The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Tuesday, the day through which the data in Wednesday’s update was compiled, was steady at 578 patients, the same as the week before. The numbers of patients in intensive care units and on ventilators decreased slightly.

For the first time, more than half of all Iowans are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to state data. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, which differs slightly from state data, had previously shown half of Iowans were fully vaccinated.)

A total of 1,582,106 Iowans, or 50.1% of Iowa’s population, were fully vaccinated as of Wednesday, having received either both doses of a two-dose sequence or one dose of a single-dose vaccine. Additionally, about 4% of Iowans were partially vaccinated with the first dose of a two-dose sequence.

Read more on COVID-19 in Iowa:

The latest COVID-19 numbers in Iowa

The latest data, as of 12 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15, compared to the previous Wednesday.

Confirmed cases: 428,517, an increase of 11,723
Deaths: 6,401, an increase of 64
Total tested: 1,967,386
Total recovered: 386,822
Statewide 14-day positivity rate: 9.1%

How many Iowans are hospitalized with COVID-19?

Hospitalizations: 578, unchanged from one week ago
Patients in ICU: 157, down from 158
Patients on ventilators: 73, down from 82

How many people in Polk and Dallas counties are vaccinated?

In Polk County, 272,482 (56%) 269,438 (55%) of residents are fully vaccinated, an increase of 3,044 (0.6 percentage points) since last week.

In Dallas County, 51,766 (55%) of residents are fully vaccinated, an increase of 552 (0.6 percentage points).

The five counties in Iowa with the highest percentage of their population fully vaccinated as of Sept. 8 are Johnson (61%), Linn (56%), Polk (56%), Boone (56%) and Dallas (55%) counties.

For a county-by-county look at the vaccination rollout, see our COVID-19 vaccine tracker, which is updated weekly.

Tim Webber is a data visualization specialist for the Register. Reach him at twebber@registermedia.com, 515-284-8532, and on Twitter at @HelloTimWebber.