Iowa Reports Highest Death Total From Covid-19 Over Last Week
More people died from covid-19 in Iowa over the last week, and over the past month, than any other time this year, according to new 
numbers from the Iowa Department of Heath.
Today, Iowa Department of Health reported 37 more deaths from covid, pushing the total to 2,349 since the first death on March 24.
The new numbers reflect 222 deaths in the last week (Nov. 20-27), making it the highest week yet for covid deaths.
The new numbers also reflect 634 deaths reported so far in November, making it the highest month yet, with four days still left to go in the month.
Since the beginning of November, Iowa has reported: 634 deaths and 596 more patients hospitalized for covid, as well as 96,187 total new covid cases, and 10,771 new cases for Iowa kids under age 18.
Iowa covid-19 numbers are soaring to record rates, on pace for a “100 percent infection rate” for the state, according to numbers from the Iowa Department of Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Covid Act Now, a not-for-profit data aggregation center affiliated with the medical departments of Harvard, Stanford and Georgetown Universities.
For information on Rock Island County and Illinois numbers, please see our previous article today detailing the latest numbers.
On Nov. 17, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds implemented new rules to mitigate the spread of covid-19 in Iowa. The rules impacted all state bars and gathering places, eliminated all sporting events under high school age, and severely limited the number of people able to gather together.
The rules included:
When in an indoor public space and unable to socially distance, masks are required to be worn by all, and masks will be required to be worn by everyone in state and government buildings throughout Iowa.
Indoor social, community, business and leisure gatherings will be limited to 15 people. Outdoor gatherings are limited to 30. That includes family gatherings, weddings, conventions and other similar activities. It does not restrict workplace gatherings within workplace buildings during business hours (i.e. inside factories, hospitals, etc.)
With the exception of high school, collegiate and professional sports, all organized youth and adult sports activities of any size are suspended. While high school sports and extracurricular activities are not prohibited, spectators at games and events are limited to two people per student and required to wear masks.
Restaurants and bars are required to close at 10 p.m., and cannot host private gatherings of more than 15 people. Masks must be worn by all staff, and customers must wear masks when not seated at tables.
(Graphic courtesy of Covid Act Now.)
“These measures are targeted toward activities and environments where they have the potential to make significant impact in a relatively short amount of time,” Reynolds said. “This doesn’t mean changes will be easy or popular but they’re necessary if we want to keep businesses open, our kids in school and our healthcare system stable.”
Illinois moved to tier 3 mitigations last Friday, putting the entirety of the Quad-Cities area under some form of mitigation. Last week, the Quad-Cities exploded into the top 10 worst covid outbreak spots in the nation, according to data from the CDC, the New York Times reported. According to the data, the Illinois/Iowa Quad-Cities movedinside the top ten most rapidly spiking hot spots nationwide for the second consecutive week, roaring from number 13 to number 7 to number 6 in just two weeks.
For more information on the covid outbreak, continue to watch your free public media QuadCities.com. We’re providing this fact-based service to keep you informed during the pandemic through a free and easily accessible media source online.
