Iowa’s COVID-19 rates have remained steady, around 9.5% in the state, with many of those positive cases coming from individuals under 18 years old.
The positivity rate for the past 14 days were 9.5% in Iowa as of Sept. 27, KCCI reported.
"The real question is, how long can the health care system hold up? It's taking a very heavy toll on the people that have to do the work on the front line of taking care of people,” Suresh Gunasekaran, CEO of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, said according to the Des Moines Register.
Despite the positivity rates of individuals under 18, which is currently at 26%, only 3% of that demographic are hospitalized, KCCI reported.
The children’s hospital at UIHC is currently 15% occupied, which is far higher than it normally would be in September, the Des Moines Register reported.
Currently, individuals who are hospitalized are largely unvaccinated or not completely vaccinated, with those who are partially vaccinated representing 85.3% of intensive care unit patients with COVID-19 whereas 78.1% of those are not vaccinated at all, according to KCCI.9.5
Officials are pushing for Iowans to get the vaccine and some are also encouraging even those who are vaccinated to remain masked in order to be as safe as possible.
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