State reaches testing goal as COVID-19 steadily spreads

Protests across the state directed attention away from the COVID-19 pandemic last week, however the lack of daily headlines has not slowed the spread of the disease.

While no changes to the statewide emergency proclamation were announced last week, the state government is still implementing measures to monitor the novel coronavirus.

Testing capabilities continue to ramp up across the state. Governor Kim Reynolds reported last week that on Saturday, May 30, the state finally crossed the 5,000 tests in one day threshold and has kept that pace, averaging 5,017 tests per day for a week.

When the outbreak began in March, the state was only able to test 10,714 people through the month. In April, testing capacity ramped up with 53,886 tests as the state deployed strike teams to target heavily impacted areas. This continued in May as TestIowa got off the ground, dramatically increasing the state’s capability with 124,949 tests performed through the month. In total, 187,932 individuals have been tested across the state since the start of the pandemic.

“While we’re prioritizing sites in communities where virus activity has increased or where access to testing is limited, when the needs of the community are met we’re able to quickly relocate the site to another area,” said Reynolds. “We’re also looking for opportunities to provide TestIowa in more communities through partnerships with local healthcare providers. I fully expect that we will continue to expand its footprint across the state in the weeks and months to come.”

As of Sunday, June 7, there have been 21,635 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state, increasing the 19,552 total from the week prior. The 2,083 new cases reported since the previous Sunday indicate that the spread has not increased or decreased since the previous week.

Approximately 8,200 of the confirmed cases are currently fighting the disease, with 269 of them hospitalized and 86 people in an ICU.

In total, approximately, 1,082 elderly (age 80+), 2,813 older adults (61-80), 7,572 middle aged adults (41-60), 9,303 young adults (18-40), and 865 children (0-17) have tested positive for the disease. Current testing shows that roughly 64% of the positive cases result in symptoms while 11% of those testing positive have been asymptomatic.

22,254 Iowans have also undergone serology testing for coronavirus antibodies, indicating that they have had the virus. Of that number 1,952, about 9%, have tested positive for antibodies.

The death rate continues to dip, with 70 additional deaths reported last week, bringing the total to 604. Of the fatal cases, approximately 284 have been elderly, 248 have been older adults, 60 have been middle aged, and 12 have been young adults.

Half of the deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Iowa have come from outbreaks in long term care facilities. An additional outbreak was reported last week, bringing the total to 40 current outbreaks and 1,556 current positive cases.

Governor Reynolds announced last week that the state is looking at the CDC’s guidance and have developed their own guidance for re-opening long term care facilities. This guidance will help facilities safely establish policies for visitation, outside trips, dining practices, and group activities for long term care residents when they are reopened.

“We’re also going to continue to reinforce really good and important strategies like screening for symptoms, using appropriate PPE, and co-warding or grouping patients together when needed,” said State Medical Director Dr. Caitlin Pedati.

Testing will continue to be prioritized to staff and residents as well, both case-by-case and facility wide.

Planning for the future outbreak events, the state is working with the County Emergency Management Association to build six regional PPE stockpiles with a 30-day supply of PPE for each county in the region.

“The pandemic is not over, and there remains much work to do,” said Reynolds.