Northwest Iowa — The total number of positive COVID test results in the past week has dropped in the four-county area of O’Brien, Osceola, Sioux and Lyon Counties, but the news in two of those counties isn’t quite as positive as the overall total.
Thirty total positive test results were reported in the four-county area in the past week, compared to thirty-three the previous week, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. Drops in the number of positives were reported in O’Brien and Lyon Counties this week, with Lyon County reporting NO new positive test results in the past seven days. O’Brien County’s positive number was cut in half from the week before, going from eight to four, with a 3% positive rate.
The news wasn’t quite as good in Sioux and Osceola Counties, however. In Sioux County, twenty new positive tests were reported, up from eighteen last week, with a positivity rate of 5%. Osceola County saw their positive test results jump from last week’s total of one, to six this week, with a 7% positive rate.
The best news from the report is that there were NO COVID-related deaths reported in the four-county area in the past seven days, leaving the total at 187 since the pandemic began: 74 in Sioux County; 56 in O’Brien County; 41 in Lyon and 16 in Osceola County.
There is just one long-term care center outbreak in Iowa this week. Urbandale Health Care Center, which is located in the Des Moines suburb of Urbandale, reports an outbreak involving 19 positive cases of COVID among their residents and staff.
