34 New Cases and Two Deaths in Dubuque County, 491 New Cases and Five Deaths Statewide
34 New Cases and Two Deaths in Dubuque County, 491 New Cases and Five Deaths Statewide
Positive Cases
Between 11 a.m. yesterday and 11 a.m. today, the IDPH reported 34 new positive cases of COVID-19 in Dubuque County, increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 1,311.
Statewide, 491 additional cases were reported in that same time frame, giving Iowa a total of 41,000 positive cases.
Deaths
Two additional deaths were reported in Dubuque County since 11 a.m. yesterday, increasing the county total to 26.
Five additional deaths were reported statewide, increasing the state death total to 820.
Testing
As of 11 a.m. today, the IDPH website reported that 18,166 Dubuque County residents have been tested, up 146 from yesterday. The county’s overall positive test rate is 7.2 percent and one in five Dubuque County residents has been tested.
441,265 Iowans have been tested, an increase of 4,531 since 11 a.m. yesterday. The state’s overall positive test rate is 9.3 percent and one in seven Iowa residents has been tested.
Hospitalizations & Recoveries
According to the IDPH, the number of Dubuque County residents reported hospitalized due to COVID-19 as of July 22 was 13, two fewer than the previous day.
230 Iowans are hospitalized due to COVID-19, a decrease of two from yesterday.
Statewide, 29,166 Iowans have recovered (303 more than reported yesterday), including 488 Dubuque County residents (three more than yesterday).
Long-Term Care Facility Outbreaks
According to the IDPH, there are 2 long-term care facilities in Iowa with COVID-19 outbreaks as of 11 a.m. today, one more than reported yesterday.
Although it has not yet appeared on the IDPH website, Luther Manor Grand Meadows in Asbury announced yesterday that three residents and one employee tested positive for COVID-19. Because three residents are positive, this is considered an outbreak and will soon appear on the IDPH website.
For the most current information on COVID-19, visit https://coronavirus.iowa.gov. For COVID-19 information specific to Dubuque County, visit www.dubuquecounty.org/COVID19.
Governor Extends State Public Health Emergency Declaration
Today, Gov. Reynolds signed a new proclamation continuing the Public Health Disaster Emergency for another 30 days. The proclamation extends public health mitigation measures currently in place for businesses and other establishments. Some provisions have not been extended, including the suspension of the requirement for retailers to accept empty bottles and cans for redemption of the container deposit. (That statutory requirement will resume on July 26, 2020.) The proclamation is now in effect until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 23, 2020. Read the full proclamation.
Update on Testing
As it has since the pandemic began, the Dubuque County Public Health Incident Management Team continues to work with the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the Governor’s office to pursue additional testing capacity in Dubuque County, in addition to the testing being conducted by local healthcare providers.
IDPH and the Governor’s office will provide 2,000 additional test kits to Dubuque County to make additional testing available to residents. Since this decision was made, the county public health incident management team has been working with local healthcare providers to finalize a plan to begin using these test kits as soon as possible.
The county public health incident management team has received some of the kits from IDPH and expects to have a finalized plan and will announce details to the public next week. The 2,000 kits will have to be utilized in conjunction with State Hygienic testing Guidelines:
COVID-19 Testing Framework for Iowa - Viral Test for COVID-19
The State Hygienic Laboratory will continue to perform COVID-19 PCR testing in accordance with one of the following criteria (these criteria may broaden as the pandemic expands and additional testing resources become available).
- Hospitalized patient (of any age) with fever or respiratory illness for diagnosis or any hospitalized patient prior to discharge to a long term care facility or other nursing care facility
- Older adult (> 60 years of age) with fever or respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, difficulty breathing) and chronic medical conditions (e.g., diabetes, heart disease, immunosuppressive medications, chronic lung disease, or chronic kidney disease)
- Person of any age with fever or respiratory illness who lives in a congregate setting (i.e., long term care facilities, dormitories, residential facilities, correctional facilities, treatment facilities)
- Healthcare worker, essential services personnel, first responder or critical infrastructure worker with fever or respiratory illness (e.g., healthcare worker, fire, EMS, law enforcement, residential facility staff, food supply and water plant operators)
- Children receiving care in and Staff working in childcare homes and childcare centers with fever or respiratory symptoms (e.g., cough, difficulty breathing) without alternative diagnosis
- Symptomatic and asymptomatic close contacts (defined as spending more than 15 minutes within 6 feet) of persons who test positive for COVID-19 infection using PCR viral testing.
- Close contact testing should not occur until at least 48 hours after the earliest exposure to 10 COVID-19 positive persons.
Dubuque Test Iowa Clinic Schedule
The testing schedule for the Test Iowa Clinic at Epic Health & Wellness at 1075 Cedar Cross Road in Dubuque is :
6 a.m. to 7 a.m., Tuesday - Thursday
Testing will be limited at this clinic to 100 tests per day. If the site reaches the maximum of 100 tests before 7 a.m., testing will be suspended until the next scheduled day.
If you go to this testing clinic, please abide by the posted traffic instructions and do not block driveways. If you are advised by traffic control or clinic staff that you will not be tested that day due to the length of the waiting line, please leave and come back another day or go to another Test Iowa site in another community.
Any Iowan who would like to be tested for COVID-19 at this location or any other Test Iowa location must first complete the Test Iowa assessment at www.testiowa.com. They will then be provided an identification number, which is required to be tested. To take an assessment or request a test, visit www.testiowa.com.
Call Test Iowa with questions about testing: 515-575-2131 or 844-844-1561 (toll free).
Media Contact
Randy Gehl, Public Information Officer
Email Randy Gehl
This message is from the Dubuque County Public Health Incident Management Team, which includes staff from the from the Dubuque County Health Department, City of Dubuque Health Department, Dubuque County Emergency Management Agency, and the Dubuque Visiting Nurse Association.