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'That first wave never ended.' Iowa's coronavirus cases are almost back up to May peak

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Iowans hit a “peak” in positive coronavirus cases in May but never saw the so-called first wave of virus activity subside.
Instead, the virus, and …

Iowans hit a “peak” in positive coronavirus cases in May but never saw the so-called first wave of virus activity subside.
Instead, the virus, and the potentially fatal disease it causes, COVID-19, was diminished only temporarily. It’s now poised to match the previous peak.
As of Tuesday morning, the Iowa Department of Public Health was reporting an average of 557 new cases per day over the prior seven days. That average was down only about two cases from the previous high of 559 cases per day, on average, from May 1 to May 7.
“That first wave never ended,” Dr. Rossana Rosa, an infectious disease specialist with UnityPoint Health, said Monday, citing the rolling averages. “… The reason that happened is we flattened the curve — which we did, yay! — but we didn’t flatten it enough. We flattened it to around 250 new cases per day.
“That makes it nearly impossible to keep track entirely through contact tracing of the new cases we’re having. We don’t have the people power to do that essentially.”
The new average was pushed up by single-day totals of 744 new cases on Friday and 743 new cases on Saturday, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. The only day on which Iowa saw more new cases was May 2, with 757.
Nearly a quarter of the new cases are coming from Polk County, which is averaging almost 139 new reported cases per day. The 193 new cases reported in Polk County on Friday were the most in a single day in any Iowa county since May.
Gov. Kim Reynolds said at a news conference Tuesday that most of the new positive cases are among younger Iowans, with an average age of about 21 or 22. Older and more vulnerable Iowans are seeing their share of positive tests drop.
“They’ve been pent up for several months,” Reynolds, a Republican, said of the young people. “As we start to open up the economy, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that we’re going to see maybe a little bit of an uptick in positive cases.”
Reynolds shut down many state businesses in the spring to combat the spread of the virus but has since allowed most to open back up. She said she may consider re-implementing a 50% capacity cap on bars, but otherwise will take a targeted approach with any new efforts.

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