As of Dec. 15, there were 823 COVID-19 patients in Iowa hospitals, and COVID-19 related deaths were approaching 7,700. | Unsplash/Sharon McCutcheon
As of Dec. 15, there were 823 COVID-19 patients in Iowa hospitals, and COVID-19 related deaths were approaching 7,700. | Unsplash/Sharon McCutcheon
As 2021 came to a close, Iowa continued to set records in new reported COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
Radio Iowa reported that as of Dec. 15, there were 823 COVID-19 patients in Iowa hospitals, and COVID-19 related deaths were approaching 7,700.
"(Iowa Gov. Kim) Reynolds also said that Iowa ended COVID. However, IA has a positivity rate over 12% & more than 84% of those hospitalized are unvaccinated," Patti Vasquez, deputy policy advisor IL comptroller, wrote in a Dec. 11 Twitter post. "Perhaps try taking responsibility for failed public health initiatives instead of taking credit for Dems' work to help all Americans."
The Des Moines Register reported Dec. 1 that COVID-19 hospitalizations rose to 721, the highest point in 2021, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. The number of new cases was up almost 100 cases from the previous week.
As of Dec. 8, approximately 54.4% of citizens of Iowa were fully vaccinated. Polk County Health Department spokesperson Nola Aigner Davis encouraged unvaccinated Iowans to get the vaccine.
"This isn't about you and me," Polk County Health Department spokesperson Nola Aigner Davis said. "It's about everyone you love and you care about. You may not think you need to be vaccinated, but you know someone who maybe is immunocompromised, maybe is elderly and has a waning immune system, you know someone under the age of 5 you love and care about. You get vaccinated for them. The way we do this is together. We have to keep doing that, or otherwise this will never stop."
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