IOWA CITY, Iowa - An Iowa medical specialist is hopeful that the recent COVID-19 surge in the Midwest will continue to subside.
"The number of cases per 100,000 continues to remain at critical levels," said University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics epidemiologist Dr. Jorge Salinas. "But fortunately, throughout the Midwest the incidents seem to be going down. It's still unclear what effect the past holiday will have on the incidents. It may stop the increase in number of cases. It may lead to an increase the cases."
Dr. Salinas thinks the next one to two weeks will be critical in determining COVID-19 levels in the Midwest. Ha refers to the region as the epicenter of the virus.
"In the case of the Midwest, because our incidents were that high, the holidays may not lead necessarily to a very high second spike," Salinas said. "That's my hope. But it's completely contingent on the public health measure implementation that I took during the holidays."
The COVID-19 levels in Iowa continue to trickle downward.
Governor Reynolds voiced optimism at the recent downward trend in the number of virus cases, death and hospitalizations at her Tuesday press conference.
Those numbers are all down as of early Wednesday morning, as are the number of outbreaks at Iowa nursing homes.
Long term care centers and nursing homes have become a major trouble spot for COVID-19, both in Iowa and across the country.
The CDC Tuesday recommended that the first doses of vaccines in the country be directed toward health care workers and long-term care centers.
In Iowa, a nursing homes with three or more COVID-19 cases are considered outbreak spots.