DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa has set a record for daily COVID-19 hospitalizations for a second time in the past several days, with 536 as of early Friday morning.
But Governor Kim Reynolds say hospitals tell her they have the capacity to handle the rise in patients.
The state health department reports 35 percent of hospital beds are available. Reynolds says only 10 percent of hospital patients are being treated for COVID-19.
During a campaign stop Thursday with Senator Joni Ernst, Reynolds said many of the new coronavirus cases are among younger people who are typically at a lower risk for serious illness.
There's some concern among medical professionals that there’ll be a surge in COVID-19 sickness with flu season taking hold during the fall and winter months.
COVID-19 hospital admissions in Iowa started spiking in late September, and have not let up. The number of patients in ICU is also on the rise, but still below levels reached in May when the pandemic was first taking hold in the U.S.