As Washington County Public Health continues to vaccinate Phase 1B tier groups, they have also been monitoring slight upticks in the number of positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations for the county in the last couple of weeks.

Washington County has had one patient hospitalized due to COVID-19 for the last couple weeks, and its 14-day average positive test rate was 2.9% as of March 30th. County Public Health Administrator Danielle Pettit-Majewski says her department stopped doing additional investigations when they would find cases of the B.1.1.7, or the United Kingdom, variant because they have found that the majority of those who tested positive for the variant didn’t have any travel, which shows it’s widespread in Iowa, “So that is concerning especially given the fact that we’re going to have more people come back from spring break, people who have gone to other states, people who might be visiting family over the Easter holiday. So it does concern us a bit just knowing that there’s that potential for a virus that is more contagious and has worse health outcomes to be spreading in the state.”

As the U.S. is several months away from reaching a level of herd immunity through vaccination, Pettit-Majewski says now is not the time to let off mitigation strategies like wearing a face mask, washing hands frequently, and staying home when you are sick. She also encourages adults to get vaccinated if they have the opportunity to do so, but if you get a prime dose in a different county, to be sure to get your second, or boost dose in that same county as it helps vaccine providers better plan their allocations. For more information on where to get a vaccine in Washington County, visit here.