Coronavirus Update - April 13, 2020

Well, good morning. We'll go ahead and get started this morning with an update on the numbers. We had 113 new positive cases for a total of 1,710 positive cases. We had one new county — Cass County — for a total of 82 counties. We had 981 negative cases today, for a total of 16,986 negative tests and a total of 18,696 tested. The State Hygienic Lab has 3,565 tests available. As of last evening, we have 142 hospitalized, 741 have recovered for a recovery rate of 43%. And I'm very sad to report that we have had two additional deaths, one elderly adult in Linn County and one older adult in Muscatine for a total of 43 deaths. And our sincere condolences go out to the families of those who have passed. The number of Iowans who have successfully recovered from COVID-19 continues to increase daily and later this week we’ll share information about what Iowa's epi-curve is telling us about our onset of illness. These signs are encouraging but they are not a reason enough for us to let up on our mitigation efforts at this time. As we’ve been saying, we project that Iowa's peak will occur later this month and until then we anticipate our number of positive cases and unfortunately, our deaths, will continue to rise as well.

Long term care facilities also continue to be a big concern despite significant mitigation measures taken early on, including restricting visitors and screening staff at all shifts. The virus has still been introduced into some facilities resulting in devastating consequences. Staff and residents of long-term care facilities account for more than 10% of all of our positive COVID cases in Iowa and 53% of all deaths are residents of long-term care facilities. This is why it has been so important that we prioritize testing for essential workers and vulnerable Iowans. The Department of Public Health is working now to deploy the Abbott rapid testing machines to conduct surveillance testing among long-term care facility staff and residents. When an essential worker tests positive for COVID-19, local public health officials are able to conduct contact tracing to determine any potential exposures that may have occurred and isolate those individuals as soon as possible to prevent further spread of the virus. And this is also why we continue to urge all Iowans to stay at home as much as possible, work from home if you can, practice social distancing at any time you're in public, don't gather in groups of more than 10 people and isolate at home if you or any member of your household is sick. These important steps will significantly reduce the risk of further exposing our essential workers and vulnerable Iowans to the virus. All Iowans must continue to do our part to protect our health and the health of others during this critical time.

I also want to provide a brief update on the Regional Medical Coordination Centers — or the RMCCs — after the weekend. So, let’s start with regions one and two in central Iowa. Yesterday, in region one — which includes Polk County and the Des Moines metro area. There were 38 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, five new patients were admitted in the last 24 hours, 14 were in ICUs and 11 were on ventilators. There were 1,365 inpatient beds available, 139 ICU beds and 224 ventilators available for patient care. In region two — the north-central area of the state — there were there was one COVID-19 patient hospitalized, no new patients were admitted in the last 24 hours, one is in an ICU and one was on a ventilator. There were 235 inpatient beds, six ICU beds, and 25 ventilators available for patient care. On the western side of the state, yesterday, region three reported two COVID-19 patients hospitalized, one new patient was admitted in the last 24 hours, one is in an ICU and none were on ventilators. There are 540 inpatient beds, 44 ICU beds and 59 ventilators available for patient care. In region four there were two COVID-19 patients hospitalized, one new patient was admitted in the last 24 hours, one was in an ICU and none were on ventilators. There were 250 for inpatient beds, 37 ICU beds and 68 ventilators available for patient care. And finally, in Eastern Iowa as of yesterday, region 5 — where Johnson County and Scott County is located — we had 55 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, 12 new patients were admitted in the last 24 hours, 24 were in ICU and 15 were on ventilators. And there were 727 inpatient beds, 85 ICU beds and 166 ventilators available for patient care. And in region six, where Linn County is located, there were 44 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, five new patients were admitted in the last 24 hours, 29 were in ICUs, 14 were on ventilators. And there were 1,225 inpatient beds, 69 ICU beds and 133 ventilators available for patient care.

Over the course of the last week we spent quite a bit of time talking about the challenges of COVID-19 and how that presents challenges for the long-term care facilities. So, in closing today I want to take a moment to recognize the staff who work in the over 444 long-term care facilities across Iowa, especially those who are working in facilities that have been impacted by an outbreak. You’re more than caregivers, you’re heroes on the frontline of this crisis and I know this situation is especially difficult for you. So, thank you for showing up every day with compassion and integrity and for caring for your residents as you would your own family. Please be safe and stay well and know that we will continue to do our part to protect you and to work with you. And with that we will open it up for questions.

Reynolds, K.K. [DMRegister]. (2020, April 13). Gov. Kim Reynolds updates Iowans on the COVID-19 outbreak in Iowa (4.13.20) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1Z4qR9Ie_M]. Retrieved on June 27, 2020 from https://www.youtube.com/user/DMRegister.