DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa continues to set some records for COVID-19 highs as on Tuesday morning.
Those include hospitalizations, which have now reached 730 after 718 were reported Monday morning. The state still does not appear to have a shortage of hospital beds in the current spike, as the health department is reporting nearly 37 percent of hospital beds as available.
In addition, well over half of the state’s 99 counties (55) have COVID-19 rates high enough to allow school districts to move to online only classes. That level is a 15 percent positivity rate over a 14-day average, which included 44 counties by Monday morning. The number of counties reaching the threshold was in the single digits in late September.
Also, COVID-19 outbreaks at long term care centers have reached a new high of 84 as of early Tuesday morning.
Iowa continues to have the 5th highest rate of new COVID-19 cases in the country, and now ranks 9th in its death rate from the virus.
Governor Kim Reynolds office has indicated she could give an update on the state's response to the outbreak sometime after Tuesday's general election. She last held a news conference dealing with the pandemic on October 7th.