DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa is now less than 50 short of the milestone 20,000 COVID-19 cases, as 19,956 are reported by the state public health department as of Tuesday at 11 a.m. There are also a total of 560 deaths.
The new numbers represent 264 additional cases and 22 more deaths.
There have been 11,604 recoveries from the virus for a recovery rate of 58 percent, up from 57 percent Monday.
The state is reporting COVID-19 outbreaks at 41 long term care centers, up from 39 Monday. Deaths of patients from those centers total 266, accounting for 47 percent of the state's deaths.
The state does not report outbreaks at meatpacking plants, which are another hot spot for the virus. It does record the number of infected residents per 100,000 population. Buena Vista County in northwest Iowa has the highest concentration of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 - 4,207 - an increase from 4,076 Monday. The state confirm an outbreak of 555 cases at a Tyson meatpacking plant in Buena Vista County late last week.
The state has conducted 19,445 Serogoly tests to find anti-bodies in people who have contracted and recovered for COVID-19. There have been 1,875 positive Serology tests, accounting for 10 percent of those tests.
The numbers for the state only represent COVID-19 figures compiled by the Iowa Department of Public Health. Unreported cases and deaths could make the actual figures different.