Few new COVID-19 cases reported locally

The number of new COVID-19 infections in O'Brien and Clay counties remained under 10 during the last week.

Both counties reported eight new cases apiece between May 4-11. Confirmed infections since the pandemic began tallied 2,147 in O'Brien County, 2,260 in Clay County and 398,496 statewide. Recoveries in that same order were 1,901, 2,076 and 353,080.

Coronavirus-related deaths remained unchanged in O'Brien County at 60 and 25 in Clay County. Statewide fatalities jumped from 5,960 last week to 5,989 this week.

Local COVID-19 positivity rates trended downward. O'Brien County's seven-day number decreased from 4 percent on May 4 to 1 percent on May 11, while Clay County's positivity rate was unchanged at 2 percent over that same time period. Statewide numbers decreased from 4.2 percent to 3.4 percent.

The number of completed COVID-19 vaccinations in Iowa continued to rise. As of Tuesday evening, 1,204,715 Iowans had either received their second shot of the two-dose vaccine or the one-dose shot. That figure was up from 1,112,217 the previous week. According to the state data, 211,564 Iowans had received one dose of either the two-shot Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.

Locally, Clay County had initiated 614 vaccine series and completed 7,187, while O'Brien County had initiated 449 series and completed 4,507. O'Brien County and Clay County had administered 245 and 105 doses, respectively, of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

As of Sunday, there were 163 coronavirus-related hospitalizations in Iowa, which was down from 179 the previous week. Neither O'Brien County nor Clay County reported any hospitalizations.