DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa Department of Public Health is reporting 18 new deaths from the COVID-19 virus, a record for a single day in the state.
The state is also reporting 539 new positive cases, a larger number than in recent days, although lower than high water marks in excess of 700 reported on two days roughly a week and a half ago.
A total of 81,288 people across the state have been tested for the virus with a positive rate of about 16 percent. The positive rate in the last day was down to 14.5 percent.
There were 3,496 tests conducted in the last day. There have been a total of 5,618 recoveries from the virus in Iowa. The recovery rate of those who have tested positive is 43.5 percent, a slight uptick from Monday.