Northwest Iowa — Just four new positive COVID tests are reported in the four-county area of Sioux, O’Brien, Osceola and Lyon Counties over the past seven days, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health.
The only county in our area to see any positive test results in the past seven days was Sioux County, where they report four new positives, with a 3% positivity rate. O’Brien, Osceola and Lyon Counties all report NO new positives during that time period, the first time that’s been the case in nearly a year.
In addition to the number of positive test results being cut in half over the past week compared to the precious week, the area reports another week in which nobody lost their life to a COVID-related illness. While the number of weekly deaths remained at zero, we’ve sadly still lost 188 of our friends and neighbors to COVID-related illnesses since the pandemic began. 74 from Sioux County, 57 from O’Brien County, 41 from Lyon County and 16 from Osceola County.
Statewide, as of 10:00 am Monday, 81 people were hospitalized with COVID being either the primary or secondary cause. 48 of those have COVID listed as the primary cause for their hospitalization, while 33 are listed as having COVID as a secondary diagnosis.
As of 10:00 Monday morning there are four long-term care facilities in Iowa battling COVID-19 outbreaks, none of which is in northwest Iowa. The facilities include: Friendship Home Association in Audubon County, where they report 31 of their residents and staff have the virus; Heritage Care and Rehabilitation in Cerro Gordo County lists 12 patients and staff; Great River Klein Center in Des Moines County has 3; and Clarion Wellness and Rehabilitation Center in Wright County reports 6 residents and staff with COVID-19.
