County cases double; two more COVID deaths

The number of COVID-19 cases in Humboldt County have more than doubled in the past month.
Also on Wednesday, Humboldt County Public Health confirmed the fourth and fifth COVID-19 deaths in the county.
“These additional losses are a reminder that we must all do our part to protect our most vulnerable. This means stay home if you are sick, maintain six feet social distance from those outside your household, wash hands often and wear a face covering when social distancing is not possible,” Humboldt County Public Health said in a release.
On Nov. 1, Humboldt County reported 353 positive cases since the first recorded case in the county last April. On Tuesday, Dec. 1, the county reported 807 total positive cases since the virus first began. On Wednesday, Dec. 2, an additional nine cases were reported, bringing the total to 816.
Of that number, 544 have recovered with 267 active positive cases.
The number of cases by age group is as follows: (0-17) 98, (18-40) 260, (41-60) 235, (61-80) 166 and (81+) 57.
Eleven new cases were identified Tuesday in the county. Of those, two were juveniles, four were ages 18-40 and five were people ages 41-60.
Kossuth (3rd) and Humboldt (5th) counties have climbed to near the top of the list in the 14-day positivity rate average.
According to the Iowa COVID-19 website, Ida County has the highest 14-day average at 29.1 percent, followed by Lyon County at 28.1, Kossuth at 27.9 percent, Cherokee at 27.4 percent and Humboldt at 26.9 percent.
Humboldt Care Center North reports 55 positive cases including 30 new cases in the past two weeks. Humboldt South Care Center reports 18 positive cases with five cases in the past 14 days.
Statewide, current long-term care outbreaks total 165 with 5,241 individuals positive and 2,273 recovered.
Humboldt County’s positivity rate climbed above 20 percent by the second week of November and has not receded below that mark.
Fifty percent of all hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the state are ages 70 and above. When people ages 50 and older are included the percentage jumps to 80.
As of Dec. 1, there were 215 hospitalized patients in the 20-county region of northwest Iowa, including Humboldt County. That number was comparable to the number hospitalized over Thanksgiving weekend. There were 40 patients in the Intensive Care Unit in the region on Tuesday, down three patients from Monday. Twenty-nine new patients were admitted on Tuesday, Dec. 1.
In the 20-county area, there are 376 inpatient beds available and 79 ICU beds.
Twenty-four patients in the region are on ventilators with 90 ventilators available. Total deaths in the state from COVID-19 stood at 2,449 Tuesday. The daily number has declined from a high of 405 on Nov. 24, to 244 on Tuesday. Check this space for updated reports.