State classification change alters Floyd County COVID-19 death total; new infection rate decreasing

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

There were fewer total COVID-19 deaths listed in Floyd County on Thursday than had been listed at the beginning of the week, because the state changed the way it reports deaths attributed to the coronavirus.

On Monday the number of deaths had stood at 24, after five additional deaths were added over the weekend. But on Tuesday the number of COVID-19 deaths in Floyd County was listed as 19.

The state announced on Monday that it was making the change to better align with national and other state reporting.

Three more deaths added to Floyd County’s total through the week brought the total COVID-19 connected deaths in the county to 22 as of Thursday.

“As we learn more about the virus and testing expands significantly, Iowa like many states has changed its methodology,” the Iowa Department of Public Health said in a press statement.

Iowa Department of Public Health Interim Director Kelly Garcia announced Monday night that Iowa now accepts clinical diagnoses from doctors and other medical professionals and not just positive virus tests when attributing a death to the coronavirus.

The change immediately increased the state virus death toll by 6.5%, to 2,898 from 2,721.

The new reporting process removed 433 deaths from the system but added 610, to provide the net gain of 177, according to reporting by The Associated Press.

However, many of the 433 deaths removed could be added back in once the proper coding methodology is applied to the individual cases, IDPH spokesman Matt Highland said.

Garcia said the new methodology will be consistent with the way the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports deaths nationally, enhancing accuracy of reporting as counts will be tied directly to official death records.

The Iowa Department of Health said the totals in some counties would go up and in some it would go down with the new classifications.

The daily rate of new COVID-19 cases in Floyd County has fallen sharply after a period in November where it was setting records almost daily.

From Nov. 10 to Dec. 3, the positivity rate — the 14-day rolling average of the percentage of tests in the county that come back positive — had been above 30%, meaning almost a third of the people tested were testing positive for COVID-19.

The positivity rate has fallen since then, dropping below 20% on Wednesday and hitting 17.3% on Thursday, according to data from the state’s COVID-19 website, coronavirus.iowa.gov.

For six out of the last seven days there have been fewer than 10 new cases of COVID-19 in Floyd County each day, although that number often fluctuates for the most recent couple of days as initial reports are verified.

Eleventh Street Chautauqua is still listed as the only long term care facility in the county with what is considered an outbreak — three or more residents testing positive. The Nora Springs Care Facility had earlier been identified as an outbreak but is no longer listed.

As of Thursday the state COVID-19 website listed 15 active cases having been identified at 11th Street Chautauqua in the last 14 days. A total of 48 cases, including residents and staff, have been reported there since an outbreak was identified the third week in November.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.