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(Des Moines, IA) -- The Iowa Department of Public Health is reporting coronavirus hospitalizations are now at the highest levels of the year. There are currently 747 people hospitalized with COVID-19, with 156 patients in the ICU. The IDPH reports 112 people with coronavirus were admitted to hospitals in the last 24-hours. COVID hospitalizations peaked in mid-November 2020, at 1,500.
The majority of those hospitalized now had not been vaccinated against coronavirus. Nearly 70-percent of Iowans 18 and older have been vaccinated.
The positivity rate over the past 14-days is 11.5%. That percentage has been slowly rising this fall.
IDPH also reports there are 20 long term care outbreaks.
The IDPH is reminding Iowans that getting vaccinated and a booster shot can prevent hospitalizations and help preserve health care resources. The IDPH says those with questions about vaccines should consult with their health care provider, and that vaccines are free, safe and available statewide.