DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – A day after setting a new record for single-day reported COVID-19 deaths, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported another record setting number.
Over the last 24 hours, the state reported an additional 84 COVID-19 deaths and another 2,901 positive tests.
As of 10:30 a.m. on December 4 the state’s data shows a total of 239,693 Iowans have tested positive for COVID-19, and 2,603 Iowans have died.
According to the data the state makes available, the positivity rate over the last 24 hours was 38.2 percent.
Hospitalizations continue to decline in the state. Data from the state’s website currenlty shows a total of 1,000 Iowans are in the hospital with the virus. That’s the lowest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in nearly a month. Of those hospitalized, 123 were admitted in the last 24 hours, 209 are in the ICU and 128 are on ventilators.
IDPH also reported a total of 152,331 Iowans have recovered from COVID-19.
This comes as the state is preparing for its first shipments of the COVID-19 vaccines later this month.
In total, the state will receive more than 170,000 dozes of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines over the course of December. But the timetable is subject to change due to the fact that both are still currently under emergency review.
Reynolds said the state plans to prioritize the distribution of the vaccine according to CDC recommendations, with the first doses going to frontline workers in hospitals and those in long term care facilities.
Kelly Garcia, who is the interim director of the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Iowa Department of Human Services, said she expects anyone who wants the vaccine will have it available to them by the middle of 2021.
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