AP PHOTO A long line of cars idle along Porter Avenue at a COVID-19 testing site in Des Moines on Wednesday.

Marshall County recorded its highest number of new COVID-19 cases in a single week since the beginning of the pandemic, with a grand total of 536.

According to Marshall County Public Health, the surge in new cases equates to 76.6 per day, surpassing the previous high daily average of 58 in November of 2020, and the positivity rate is 17 percent locally. Overall, the state of Iowa saw a total of 34,308 new cases in the past week.

In addition, the number of active COVID outbreaks in long-term care facilities nearly doubled in the past seven days. There are 41 active outbreaks in the facilities, up from 32 at the start of the week and 24 a week ago. Several other metrics from the Iowa Department of Health indicate a sharp increase in COVID activity. The seven day rate of positive cases across Iowa leapt to more than 23 percent — by contrast, the rate of positivity was about 14 percent last week.

In Marshall County, the most affected age group is adults between the ages of 18 and 29 at 32 percent, and 11 percent of cases are in adults 60 or older. The IDPH has reported 32,258 positive tests in the last week.

Hospitalizations are again increasing drastically after slowing down slightly a couple weeks ago. Iowa is at its highest level of COVID related hospitalizations since December of 2020. There are currently 923 patients, including 176 admitted in the last 24 hours.

Of those patients, 176 are in intensive care, and about 26 percent of inpatient beds are available. People not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 account for 72 percent of COVID hospitalizations and more than 78 percent of ICU patients. Sixty-four percent of the hospitalizations list COVID as the primary diagnosis. Adults between the ages of 60 and 69 make up 22 percent of hospitalizations, the most of any age group.

While a large majority of hospitalizations are in adults ages 50 or older, there are also 20 children ages 17 and younger who are hospitalized with COVID. Only two of the children are vaccinated.

Iowa is up to 8,201 deaths tied to COVID since the start of the pandemic, with 182 new deaths reported this week. Marshall County did not report any new deaths.

More than 4.7 million vaccine doses have been administered in Iowa. Statewide, more than 59 percent of eligible individuals are fully vaccinated. IDPH has added tracking of adolescent vaccination for the 5-11 age group, which is now included in its total rate of vaccination, and the Pfizer vaccine has been administered 114,820 times for individuals in that demographic. Marshall County is more than 62 percent fully vaccinated, including 75 percent of adults 18 and older and 95 percent of people ages 80 and older.

COVID-19 IN MARSHALL COUNTY

• Seven day percent of positive test rate: 17 percent

• Seven day number of cases: 444

• CDC transmission level: HIGH

• Eligible and Fully vaccinated: 62.7 percent

• New deaths this week: 0

• Total deaths: 95