DES MOINES, Iowa - The daily number of new COVID-19 cases in Iowa has bounced up and down in the past week, but other indicators have risen.
The state now has its highest number of hospitalizations since May (444) when they peaked in Iowa. Almost 100 people have been admitted to hospitals in the most recent 24-hour period. About 35 percent of in-patient beds are currently available statewide.
And 16 counties now have a high positivity rate, which is a high mark after there were only a handful just a few weeks ago.
Those 16 counties have a positivity rate above 15 percent over a 14-day period, the threshold where schools can ask the state for a waiver to conduct online only classes.
One county - Lyon - has a positivity rate in excess of 30 percent (31.6%).Lyon County is adjacent to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. North and South Dakota have recorded some of the biggest recent spikes in COVID-19 infections.