Humboldt County's COVID positivity rate increasing slightly
Humboldt County now stands at 197 total positive cases of novel coronavirus since the first positive case of the virus in the county was reported on April 18.
There were four new cases reported Tuesday and Wednesday this week, Sept. 29 and 30, but no new cases on Thursday, Oct. 1. Of the new cases this week, three were young adults, ages 18-40, and one was a middle age adult, age 41-60.
Of the total positive cases in the county since the inception of the disease, 20 have been ages 0-17; 86 have been ages 18-40; 61 have been ages 41-60; 29 have been ages 61-80, and one was age 81 or older.
The Iowa Department of Public Health and Humboldt County Department of Public Health report 184 recovered cases, including two deaths.
Of the 13 active cases in the county, two are ages 0-17, five are ages 18-40, four are ages 41-60 and two are ages 61-80.
Humboldt County’s positivity rate for the past 14 days is 7.3 percent. Palo Alto County is 16.4 percent. Webster County is 12.2 percent. Emmet and Kossuth counties are both at 12 percent. Wright County is 7.0 percent and Pocahontas County is 6.8 percent. Humboldt County's positivity rate has increased by 2 percentage points over the past two weeks.
The biggest explosion has been in counties near the state’s borders. Lyon and Sioux counties in far northwest Iowa are reporting 30.3 percent and 27.7 percent positivity rates during the past two weeks. Taylor County in extreme southern Iowa is reporting 19.7 percent positivity rate and Delaware County, next to Dubuque County in eastern Iowa is at 19 percent.
Citizens are continued to be encouraged to wear a mask in public, social distance when in public spaces, wash hands thoroughly and often, cover your mouth with your upper arm when coughing or sneezing and don’t go out if you are feeling ill.
People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:
• Fever or chills
• Cough
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• Headache
• New loss of taste or smell
• Sore throat
• Congestion or runny nose
• Nausea or vomiting
• Diarrhea
For up-to-date information on COVID-19, visit the IDPH webpage at https://coronavirus.iowa.gov/ and follow Humboldt County cases at https://www.humboldthospital.org/news-events/covid-19-update
