For the second time this week, about one in five Iowans tested during a 24-hour period were positive for COVID-19.
The Iowa Department of Public Health reported another 287 people tested positive from 10 a.m. on Friday to 10 a.m. on Saturday. During this same period, there were 1,499 people tested, per IDPH numbers.
This makes the statewide positivity rate — the percentage of people tested who were confirmed as having COVID-19 — 19.1 percent. This is the second-highest positivity rate reported this week. The highest — 19.8 percent — was reported during the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. on Monday.
The World Health Organization recommends that the daily positivity rate remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days before reopening. Iowa is one of 33 states above the recommended positivity rate.
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Iowa as of 10 a.m. on Saturday was 37,903, according to IDPH. The department also reported another three Iowans have died, including a Linn County resident. The total number of deaths in the state caused by the virus is 785.
IDPH reported five Johnson County residents tested positive for COVID-19 during the same 24-hour period, breaking the month-long streak of consecutive double-digit increases. During that streak, from June 17 to July 17, IDPH reported 943 county residents tested positive — which is nearly 60 percent of the county’s total confirmed cases. The total as of 10 a.m. on Saturday was 1,598 cases.
Despite the low increase of five cases from 10 a.m. on Friday to 10 a.m. on Saturday, the county had a positivity rate of 10.9 percent. A total of 46 tests were conducted during the 24-hour period, according to IDPH numbers.
Another 23 Linn County residents have tested positive for the virus, bringing the total number of cases in the county to 1,528, according to IDPH. This is Linn County’s sixth day of consecutive double-digit increases.
The county’s positivity rate during the 24-hour period was 12.5 percent.
