DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa’s battle with a spike in COVID-19 cases is showing signs of improvement.
There are eight counties with a virus positivity rates above 15-percent, down from a high of 12 counties just a few day ago.Three counties have positivity rates above 20 percent, down from four.
The hot spot counties of Johnson and Story, home to outbreaks at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, are also seeing a reduction in positivity rates.Johnson and Story counties now rank 3rd and 4th after having the highest positivity rates prior to Labor Day.
Governor Kim Reynolds reacted to the virus spike in the state by closing bars in six counties on August 27th. That restriction remains in place until September 20th.
Iowa’s daily COVID-19 positive tests have also been declining after reaching more than 1,000 numerous times in late August and early September. Recent numbers could be affected by the closure of all Test Iowa sites on Labor Day.
Iowa still has the sixth highest COVID-19 positivity rate in the country, according to the Johns Hopkins University 7-day moving average.
The Johns Hopkins tracker shows Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and Kansas have larger outbreaks than Iowa.Those numbers were last updated Tuesday afternoon.