DES MOINES, Iowa - The latest report on states from the White House Coronavirus Task Force shows Iowa has the 3rd highest rate of new COVID-19 cases in the country.
The report places Iowa in the "red zone" for cases and recommends a statewide mask order, even though the state numbers are down overall for the week.
It also shows Iowa in the "yellow zone" with the 16th highest positivity rate in the nation.
In the last week measured, Iowa had 151 new cases per 100,000 population in the last week, compared to a national average of 74 per 100,000.
Polk, Story County and Johnson counties had highest number of new cases last week representing almost 40 percent of new cases in Iowa.
63 percent of all counties in Iowa have moderate or high levels of community transmission (yellow and red zone) and 17 percent have high levels of community transmission (red zone).
The White House Coronavirus Task Force report was dated September 13th, although the Iowa Department of Public Health says it received the report Tuesday, September 15th.
According to the state, eight Iowa counties now have COVID-19 rates over 15 percent.That number has doubled from earlier this week.