COVID deaths rise as infections plateau

State health officials reported 184 new deaths of people who were infected by the coronavirus on Wednesday, the most for a one-week period during the latest COVID-19 surge.

That report came amid an apparent wane in the virus’ spread in Iowa. The most recent state data show weekly infection rates peaked about two weeks ago and have ebbed since. There were an average of about 5,000 new cases confirmed per day in the past week.

The newly reported deaths happened between Oct. 29 and Jan. 19. Previous peaks in deaths have trailed peaks in cases by about two weeks, based on state data, and it can be more than a month before they are fully tallied.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projected last week that Iowa might have nearly 400 COVID-19 deaths per week by mid-February. It has since revised that projection to about 160.

Those forecasts are shaped by more than 20 prediction models, and the revision appeared to be driven by a sharp decline in deaths the CDC recorded for Iowa last week.

The total number of deaths reported by the state so far is 8,501.

Those infected by the virus who are receiving hospital treatment totaled 929 as of late Tuesday. That was down from 960 the day prior. The number briefly eclipsed 1,000 last week.

Although recent hospitalizations haven’t come close to the pandemic peak of more than 1,500 in November 2020, they have been persistently elevated. At least 400 people have been receiving in-patient treatment at Iowa hospitals on any given day for the past five months, whereas that level of hospitalization lasted for less than four months during the previous peak.

To help alleviate the strain on hospitals, the state is paying for 100 out-of-state nurses to work at Iowa’s larger hospitals. The state is also in the process of establishing a call center that would help facilitate patient transfers when hospital beds are in short supply.

The state solicited proposals in December from companies to establish the call center, which were due Jan. 10. Sarah Ekstrand, a spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said a review of the proposals is still underway.

Infections rise at universities

Each of the state’s three regent universities has reported significant recent increases in student infections. Classes resumed at Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa last week, and each tracks infections differently.

Iowa State identified 130 student infections last week with on-campus testing, the highest so far for the academic year. Toward the end of the fall semester, there were about two dozen positive tests per week.

“With the surge in COVID-19 cases on campus and in our community, we have increased our testing capacity and options,” ISU officials told students the day after classes resumed. The university started providing rapid tests at five locations on campus along with surgical and N95 masks.

At the University of Iowa, students and staff are self-reporting infections at a rate of about 88 per day. That number was less than 10 for most of the fall semester.

Testing at the University of Northern Iowa’s Student Health Center revealed 32 infections. The UNI test-positivity rate was about 48%, meaning nearly half of all tests resulted in a confirmed infection.