Dubuque County: 13 New Cases, 104 Recoveries, and 1 New Death.
Iowa: 834 New Cases, 3,291 Recoveries, and 13 New Deaths.

Preparations Under Way for Appointment-Based Community Vaccination Clinic

Yesterday the Dubuque County Board of Supervisors approved the Dubuque County Public Health Incident Management Team’s request to lease vacant space at Kennedy Mall in Dubuque to operate an indoor, appointment-based COVID-19 vaccination point of distribution (POD) for Phase 1B vaccinations.  

Preparations are under way at the former Younkers women's store at the mall with the goal of opening the site to appointments for vaccinations beginning mid-February and as vaccine allocations become more available.  

The clinic will operate as a joint vaccination site for multiple local healthcare providers who will offer their patients COVID vaccinations at the site by appointment only.  Appointments will be required for all COVID vaccinations.  “Walk-ins” will not be accepted. County residents age 65 and over will be contacted by their healthcare provider when vaccines are available and vaccination appointments can be scheduled.  Healthcare providers will contact their patients through a variety of channels including telephone, text, email, and letter.  Detailed information on how to schedule appointments will be provided by each healthcare provider.   Please do not contact your healthcare provider or other vaccination sites to request a vaccination or to be placed on a waiting list.

In accordance with IDPH guidance to begin vaccinations for Phase 1B on February 1, some local healthcare providers may have alternate accommodations to administer some vaccines beginning this week. Residents should follow guidance from their healthcare organization if they are notified of eligibility to receive the vaccine. 

IDPH Confirms B.1.1.7 Variant Strain in Iowa

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced yesterday it has confirmed three cases of the COVID-19 variant, SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.7. in Iowa. The virus variant is often referred to as the U.K. variant because it was first detected in the United Kingdom. Based on epidemiologic and modeling data, researchers believe that the B.1.1.7 strain can be spread more easily than the original strain of SARS-CoV-2. Current COVID-19 vaccines are considered to be effective against the variant strain.

Two of the three B.1.1.7 cases were detected in Johnson County, an adult (18 to 40) and a middle aged adult (41 to 60) and an adult individual in Bremer County. IDPH and local public health have already initiated contact with these cases to understand their exposures and initiate the health monitoring process. The process will include notifying anyone with whom these individuals have been in close contact. The individuals will be advised to isolate in accordance with IDPH and CDC guidance. 

“Viruses constantly change through mutation, and new variants of a virus are expected to occur over time. Sometimes new variants emerge and disappear. Other times, new variants emerge and persist. Multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been documented in the United States and globally during this pandemic. Public health will continue to work with our partners at SHL to monitor these trends and it is very important that we all keep practicing good public health protective measures,” shared Dr. Caitlin Pedati, State Medical Director and Epidemiologist.

The emergence of new variants underscores that it remains critical for Iowans to continue the mitigation efforts that we know work to slow the spread of COVID-19:

• Wear a mask or face covering
• Practice social distancing with those outside your household
• Clean your hands frequently with soap and water
• Stay home if you feel sick
• Get tested if you are exposed to, or have symptoms of COVID-19
• Consider getting a COVID-19 vaccine when it’s available to you

24-HOUR CHANGES & NEW TOTALS  

(11 a.m. yesterday to 11 a.m. today) 

POSITIVE CASES 

Dubuque County:

• 13 new cases.
• Total confirmed cases to date = 11,843

Iowa:

• 834 new cases.
• Total confirmed cases to date = 320,340

ACTIVE CASES

• Dubuque County: 967 active cases (92 less than yesterday)

DEATHS

Dubuque County:

• 1 new death.
• Total deaths related to COVID to date = 177 
• Underlying Cause Deaths = 168, Contributing Factor Deaths = 9

Iowa:

• 13 new deaths.
• Total deaths related to COVID to date = 4,919
• Underlying Cause Deaths = 4,460, Contributing Factor Deaths = 459

HOSPITALIZATIONS

• Dubuque County Residents Hospitalized =  8 as of Jan. 30. (same as Jan. 28)
• Iowans Currently Hospitalized = 390 (22 more than yesterday.) 

TESTING

Dubuque County:

• 56 more individuals tested.
• Total individuals tested to date = 51,558
• Total tests to date = 143,848

Iowa:

• 3,231 more individuals tested.
• Total individuals tested to date = 1,477,304
• Total tests to date = 3,648,656

PERCENT POSITIVE CASES

Dubuque County:

• Past 14-day average = 9.3%
• Past 7-day average = 5.4%

Iowa:

• Past 14-day average = 9.6%
• Past 7-day average = 7.3%

RECOVERIES 

Dubuque County:

• New recoveries = 104 
• Total number of recoveries = 10,699

Iowa:

• New recoveries = 3,291 
• Total number of recoveries = 286,323

LONG-TERM CARE FACILITY OUTBREAKS

Dubuque County:
1 long-term care facility outbreak (same as yesterday):

• Stonehill Care Center, Dubuque (26 current positive cases, 12 in the last 14 days, and 0 recoveries)

Iowa:
48 long-term care facility outbreaks (7 less than yesterday) with 1,417 current positive cases (residents and staff), 857 recoveries (residents and staff), and 2,018 resident deaths from all Iowa LTC facilities to date. 

 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

Media Contact
Randy Gehl, Public Information Officer
Email Randy Gehl
563-589-4151

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.