COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations, and those in intensive care have increased in the last week, with Washington County amassing 60 deaths.

While Washington County saw no increase in deaths from approximately mid-May to mid-August, there has been practically one new death for each week since then. The weekly full update of Iowa’s coronavirus dashboard shows nearly 100 new deaths were confirmed Wednesday, which occurred between September 15th and November 5th. The total is now 7,166. The CDC recently approved the use of booster doses of the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The groups that are eligible for the booster shot six months after their initial series are those 65 years and older, and those 18 years and older who reside in long term care settings, have underlying medical conditions, and work or live in high-risk settings. J&J does not have eligibility criteria.

Washington County Public Health Nurse Sara Hammes shares what those who are unsure of the booster shots should do, “First reach out to your providers, that’s my first course of action is to reach out to your providers see what they recommend you do for your current health needs. Second, you can always refer to the Iowa Department of Public Health website, also the CDC website. They have lots of good pictures on there and graphs that you can see that really help you decide where you fall in these categories.”

More than one third of the 90 patients in the southeast Iowa region currently hospitalized for COVID are in the Intensive Care Unit, and they account for about one fourth of the 483 patients statewide. Those not fully vaccinated make up 71.6% of Iowa patients, and for 85% of those in the ICU.