JOHNSTON, Iowa. (KMTV) — Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds held a press conference Thursday in Johnston as COVID-19 cases rise in the state.
She mentioned that per capita, smaller counties are seeing a significant amount of cases. Older adults continue experiencing more severe illness that requires hospitalization.
Some hospitals have continued with elective surgeries while others have scaled back to increase capacity.
Gov. Reynolds said the state is updating available data on hospitalizations online and will now provide demographics of who is currently in the hospital.
Additionally, data on those hospitalized will now be broken down into two categories: primary diagnosis and secondary diagnosis. Primary means the patient was taken to the hospital for COVID-19 while secondary means the patient was admitted to the hospital for something else, then tested positive for COVID-19.
Gov. Reynolds said TestIowa has the ability to do more than 6,000 tests each day. She expressed pride in how the state has expanded testing and said the state is doing everything they can to expand it further.
The governor said she continues to spread the word urging Iowans to socially distance and work to slow the spread of the virus. Additionally, Gov. Reynolds mentioned the state continues to work to ensure long term care facilities have access to the tools they need to decrease outbreaks.
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