For 11 days in a row, COVID-19 cases have increased faster in the 77 counties where Gov. Reynolds LOOSENED restrictions than in the rest of Iowa
CEDAR RAPIDS – State Senator Rob Hogg (D-Cedar Rapids) released today a chart showing that the 77 counties where Gov. Reynolds loosened restrictions on May 1 have increased faster than in the rest of Iowa for eleven consecutive days.
“The tragic news today that six more Iowans died from COVID-19, bringing the total for the last seven days to 83, is a reminder that we need to do even more to slow down and stop the spread of this dangerous and highly contagious disease,” Hogg said.
Today’s report from the Iowa Department of Public Health showed a 3.5% increase in the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases (up 414 to 12,373), while the county-by-county data show that the 77 counties where Gov. Reynolds loosened restrictions on May 1 increase by 8.0% (up 116 new confirmed cases to 1,562).
The chart gives the daily increases since April 30 for the state as a whole and the 77 counties where Gov. Reynolds loosened restrictions.
The 116-case increase in the 77 counties reported today was the second highest increase yet in terms of actual number of new cases for those counties, second only to the 145-case increase reported May 7.
On Thursday, May 14, Hogg plans to release his second weekly “Top 25” chart for the counties with the fastest increase in COVID-19 cases since April 30.
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