Iowa health officials investigating case surge in northwest

covid-19

Des Moines, Ia (AP) — Iowa health officials are working to determine what’s causing a spike in coronavirus cases in the northwest corner of the state where. Several counties are seeing a surge in new cases. Sioux County has a 14-day positivity rate of 30%. Public health officials usually recommend significant mitigation measures to slow the spread when an area surpasses 5% positivity. Neighboring Lyon and Osceola counties have rates above 20%. Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds says there isn’t a specific outbreak and health officials are investigating the cause. Iowa’s positive case numbers surpassed 81,000 on Tuesday as the state posted 517 new cases in the past 24 hours and 19 deaths.