For the second day in a row, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported more than 700 news cases of COVID-19. According to the department, 743 Iowans tested positive for the virus during the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Saturday morning’s total is the third-highest one-day number of new cases Iowa has experienced. It is one fewer case than Friday, but Saturday’s positive results were based on 2,576 fewer tests. The state’s positivity rate — the percentage of people being tested who are confirmed as having COVID-19 — jumped from 8.1 percent for the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. on Friday to 11.3 percent for the same period on Saturday.
The new cases pushed the state’s total to 34,999.
While Iowa saw its second day of more than 700 new cases, Johnson County had its 25th consecutive day of double-digit increases in confirmed cases of COVID-19. Another 33 residents of the county tested positive for the virus between 10 a.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday, according to IDPH. That is 10 more cases than were reported on Friday, even though the results of 110 fewer tests were reported. The county’s 24-hour positivity rate at 10 a.m. on Saturday was 10.2 percent compared to 5.3 percent at the same time on Friday.
Johnson County’s total number of cases increased to 1,425.
Linn County had 18 new cases on Saturday, six fewer than the one-day total reported on Friday. Those new infections were confirmed on the basis of 56 fewer cases than IDPH reported on Friday, but the county’s positivity rate dropped from 4.8 percent on Friday to 4.1 percent on Saturday.
A total of 1,375 Linn County residents have now tested positive for COVID-19, according to IDPH.
The department also reported six more deaths on Saturday, bringing the state’s death toll from the virus to 748.
According to IDPH, 26,081 of the Iowans who have tested positive for COVID-19 are now considered recovered, including 847 residents of Johnson County and 1,110 Linn County residents. The department considers anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 to be recovered after 28 days, unless it is informed otherwise.
