Infections climb as Reynolds says Iowa is ‘slowing the spread’ of COVID-19

With Iowa’s rate of COVID-19 infections continuing to climb, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Thursday the state is poised to “continue slowing the spread of the virus.”

Last week’s 2,864 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Iowa represents an increase of 13.4% over the previous week.

A total of 563 new cases were reported on Wednesday, according to the New York Times.

According to Reuters news service, the weekly total of COVID-19 infections in Iowa has reached its highest level since May 3.

The weekly totals for the past month are:

June 7: 2,115

June 21: 2,037

June 28: 2,526

July 5: 2,864

Iowa’s seven-day average daily rate of infection reached 443 on Wednesday, which is about 110 cases more than what the states was routinely experiencing in mid-June.

Seven COVID-19 deaths were reported on Tuesday and seven more were reported on Wednesday.

Reynolds issued a press release and video on Thursday promoting what she called a “major milestone” in the fight against the virus: The Test Iowa program has now completed 100,000 COVID-19 tests, she said.

Roughly 21% of all COVID-19 tests in Iowa have been completed through the Test Iowa program.

“Reaching today’s milestone could not have happened without unprecedented collaboration between state and local government as well as local health care providers,” Reynolds said. “Test Iowa’s success puts us in a strong position to continue slowing the spread of the virus and protect the health of all Iowans.”