IOWA - Iowa's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly picking up momentum.
Numbers from the New York Times show cases have dropped by sixty percent in the last two weeks, with the state tied for second lowest infection rate in the country.
The state's positivity rate of 2.3 percent is roughly 10 times lower than during its peak late last year - when it was over 20 percent.
In addition, Hospitalizations are now at their lowest level since the early days of the pandemic more than a year ago - in April of 2020.
National numbers also show a sharp decline of COVID-19 across the states.
And Iowa continues to outperform the national average in getting vaccine shots to people, ranking 18th in percentage of residents vaccinated.
Almost 50 percent of Iowans have received at least one dose of the vaccine while 43 percent are fully vaccinated. Nationally, almost 41 percent are fully vaccinated and 50 percent have at least one dose.
Overall, the vaccination rate has slowed dramatically in Iowa. Vaccinations peaked in early April, with more than 51,000 people receiving shots in a single day. By last week, there were no days with even 10,000 vaccinations.
The current numbers show the U.S. will not likely reach “herd immunity” for COVID-19.