Humboldt County reports 11 new COVID cases in past two days

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Humboldt County Public Health have identified nine additional cases of COVID-19 in the county as of Wednesday, March 24.
In Iowa, 829 new positive cases were reported with eight additional deaths.
The new numbers raise the total of positive cases in the county to 1,173 since the virus was first positively identified in the county on April 18, 2020.
Of those contracting the virus, 1,134 have recovered and there have been 25 deaths. There are currently 14 active positive cases in the county.
Of the nine new cases reported Wednesday, one was ages 0-17 and one was ages 61-80. Two were ages 18-40 and five were ages 41-60.
Another two new cases were reported on Thursday, March 25. One was in the 18-40 age category and the other was in the 61-80 age category.
Humboldt’s positivity rate for testing in the past seven days is 5 percent. Other that Kossuth County at 8 percent, other counties around Humboldt are below 5 percent. Palo Alto is also at 5 percent, Pocahontas County at 4 percent, Wright and Hancock counties at 3 percent and Calhoun, Webster and Hamilton County all at 2 percent. Humboldt County’s positive tests per 100,000 population stats at 12,727, which puts the county in the upper one-third of counties in the state.
Humboldt County has reported 140 positive individuals through serology testing, and 4,302 Test Iowa assessments.
Statewide, 4,377,820 tests for the COVID-19 virus have been administered with 3,985,012 negative and 376,054 positive, including both the PCR and Antigen tests. Statewide, current hospitalizations due to COVID are 122 with a primary diagnosis and 85 with a COVID-19 as a secondary diagnosis. Seventy-five percent of the current hospitalized COVID patients are age 50 and above. Age 60-69 is the current highest rate by decade at 24 percent.
Total deaths related to COVID-19 in Iowa stand at 5,708. Regarding deaths by age group, those over 80 account for 59 percent of Iowa deaths related to the novel coronavirus. When 70-79-year-olds are included, the number jumps to 81 percent.

Public Health asks homebound residents to call for help
Humboldt County Memorial Hospital and Humboldt County Public Health wants homebound residents to know that they are important. If you or you know someone who has considerable difficulty and/or requires significant support to leave the home for medical appointments please call Humboldt County Public Health at (5150 332-2492.
This line is staffed Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. This phone line will connect residents to in-home COVID-19 vaccinations administered by Humboldt County Public Health.
If someone is not eligible for an in-home vaccination, Humboldt County Public Health will be able to assist in scheduling and possible transportation options.