Iowa had nearly 200 COVID-19 hospitalized patients as of 11 a.m. Friday. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health there were 197 people hospitalized statewide with 60 of those in intensive care units and 37 people on ventilators. That’s almost half the number of people on ventilators on June 1st in the state. In Region 5, which includes southeast Iowa, there were 20 hospitalized with eight in intensive care and five on ventilators.

Washington County Public Health Director Danielle Pettit-Majewski said there have been downward trends in southeast Iowa in hospitalizations. She says while there are some positive trends, the virus is still circulating, “Most of our positive cases that we’re seeing are pockets of outbreaks. So, rather than seeing a lot of people with out connections, we’re seeing lots bursts of community spread in small pockets. That’s what we find when we do our contact tracing. But to that point, we’re only as good as the information that we’re given and contact tracing is basically voluntary.”

The Iowa Department of Public Health encourages people to wear masks in public to help prevent the spread of the virus. IDPH also recommends employers stagger work shifts and employee breaks to encourage physical separation, allow employees to work remotely when possible, provide or allow employees to wear masks when appropriate, and clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces.

As of Friday, Washington County had 210 cases, nine deaths, and 175 recovered cases. This week, Keokuk County reported its first death from COVID-19.