This week has brought both some very good and some sobering news on the COVID-19 front. Let’s start with the good news. Two companies, Pfizer and Moderna, have released preliminary results of their phase 3 vaccine trials and both show that they are >90% effective at preventing COVID-19. Just as...
The last week has brought the highest infection rates that we’ve seen yet and we’re seeing the effect of this in the hospital. As I write this, we have 8 COVID-19 patients admitted, which is the most that we’ve had at Iowa Specialty and continues to increase. All of our...
Over the last several weeks, there has been a large increase in the number of cases of COVID-19 in Iowa. Just comparing the last two weeks for which we have complete information we saw cases rise from 8,895 two weeks ago to 14,712 last week. As cases increase in a...
There is no way to describe this past week as anything other than a week in which we took a dramatic turn for the worse. There has been a large increase in positive cases across our area, the state, and the country. We are also continuing to see an increase...
There has not been much change in the amount of COVID-19 spread in our area over the past week. It continues to spread at a steady (and relatively high) rate with 34 new infections identified in Wright County from last Thursday to this Thursday. Four Wright County residents remain hospitalized,...
There has been no indication yet that the increased rate of cases in Wright County is slowing down. Just as significantly, with the exception of Franklin County, every county touching Wright County has been seeing a prominent spike in the number of cases as well. During this week, 6 Wright...
The COVID-19 situation in Wright County has significantly worsened this week. Over the days earlier in the week for which we have complete testing back, we have been seeing about 8 cases per day in the county (and of course this doesn’t include people without symptoms who do not get...
Yesterday, Governor Reynolds announced that quarantine restrictions for COVID-19 in the state are being changed so that if both people in an exposure situation were wearing masks properly throughout the exposure, quarantine is not required. This change gives schools that are being very careful with masking some additional flexibility to...
The Wright County Charitable Foundation recently contributed funds towards the purchase of a hover mattress for the OB department at Iowa Specialty Hospital – Clarion. A hover mattress is used before and after every caesarian section. This type of bed is a vital part of the surgical process as it...
There are several significant events regarding COVID-19 occurring currently that are important for us to all be mindful of. Across the country, the number of COVID-19 cases is decreasing at a rate of roughly 15% every two weeks. Unfortunately, this is not occurring in Iowa. Without much doubt this is...
