Floyd County sets new highs on COVID-19 stats

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Floyd County set a new high mark for the most new COVID-19 cases this week, when 23 positive test results were recorded on Monday.

Previous double-digit new case numbers in the county, according to the Iowa COVID-19 data website, coronavirus.iowa.gov, had been:

• July 31 – 17.
• Aug. 5 – 10.
• Aug. 17 – 11.
• Sept. 9 – 10.
• Sept. 14 – 13.
• Sept. 15 – 11.

Those high new-case numbers on Sept. 13 and 15, combined with Monday’s 23, also contributed to a record for the highest 14-day rolling total of new cases, with 87 new cases in the two weeks ending on Tuesday.

The total number of COVID-19 cases reported so far in Floyd County stood at 335 on Thursday afternoon. The number of recovered cases was listed as 261, plus three deaths, meaning the number of active cases in the county was 71.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Iowa has the 10th highest number of new COVID-19 cases in the country as a percentage of its population.

Tallying the first 100 cases of COVID-19 in Floyd County took 94 days, from the day the first case was reported on April 24, to the 99th and 100th cases on July 27.

The next 100 cases took 22 days, from July 28 to Aug. 19, when seven cases on that day pushed the number to 201.

It took 28 days to reach 300, from Aug. 20 to last Thursday, Sept. 17, when cases No. 300, 301 and 302 were reported in Floyd County.

The number of deaths caused by COVOD-19 remains at three in Floyd County. They were:

• May 10 – an elderly adult, age 81 and older.
• June 26 – an elderly adult, age 81 and older.
• Aug. 13 – a middle age adult, age 41-60.

With three deaths out of more than 335 cases now, the fatality rate for the disease in Floyd County stands at 0.9%.

Area county total COVID-19 cases as of Thursday afternoon were:

• Butler – 264.
• Bremer – 479.
• Cerro Gordo  – 1,017.
• Chickasaw – 246.
• Franklin – 347.
• Howard – 185.
• Mitchell – 185.
• Worth – 104.

The Iowa Department of Public Health continues to remind people to:

• Wash your hands often, with soap and water for at least 20 seconds especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. Use a hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Stay at least six feet from others at all times.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a mask when around others. Everyone should wear a mask when in public settings, especially when social distancing measures are difficult to maintain. Continue to maintain social distancing even when wearing a mask.
• Be alert for symptoms. Watch for fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea.