Care center COVID-19 cases boost Floyd County numbers

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A recent report of more than two dozen COVID-19 cases in a Floyd County care facility boosted the county’s rate of infection increase to another new record.

According to the Iowa COVID-19 data site, coronavirus.iowa.gov, there are currently 26 instances of positive test results at the Nora Springs Care Center. There have been a total of 27 cases at the care facility, but one of them was from earlier in the pandemic and is now listed as recovered. It is the only care center listed in the county with current COVID-19 cases.

With other recent days with double-digit positive test results and more positive results on almost every other day, there were 96 new cases in the 14 days ending last Wednesday. That’s the highest rate of increase in Floyd County since the pandemic began.

The state uses a two-week running total of all the new cases in the previous 14 days to track whether the infection rate is increasing or decreasing in each county and throughout the state.

The state’s latest report shows a total of 27 new cases identified on Monday, Sept. 21, in Floyd County. That data had originally been reported as 23 new cases, but the state data site notes that over the weekend additional tests results were added.

“During the weekend of Sept. 26-27, a data update will occur to add nearly 27,000 antigen test results from newly required surveillance testing at long-term care facilities,” the state site said. “This update will result in an increase in the number of individual test results and the number of antigen tests currently reported on this website.”

The state reports tests and test results in two categories — PCR and antigen tests. Both tests rely on a swab of the nasal passages or throat to look for pieces of SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Presence of the virus usually means the person has an active COVID-19 infection.

The PCR test is considered the more reliable of the two, but often takes longer to process. An antigen test can have results back in under an hour, and is considered highly accurate for positive results, but false negative are possible and negative results may need to be confirmed with a PCR test, according to information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of Monday evening there have been 351 cases of COVID-19 reported in Floyd County since the first case was reported on April 24. The state website lists 297 recovered. With the three deaths attributed to COVID-19, that leaves 51 active cases in the county.