COVID-19 hospitalizations and long term care outbreaks have increased sharply this week.

The weekly full update of the state coronavirus dashboard shows statewide hospitalizations increased from 792 to 923 and Intensive Care Unit patients moved from 161 to 178. In southeast Iowa hospitalizations grew from 177 to 229 with a few more ICU patients for a total of 54. Long term care outbreaks ballooned from 25 to 41. Though Washington County saw no new deaths this week, across the state 182 COVID-related deaths were confirmed for a total of 8,201. Iowa’s 14-day average positive test rate increased from 14.9% last week to 21.2% Wednesday, while Washington County’s moved from 12 to 16%.

The percentage of those fully vaccinated slightly increased from 59.2-59.5% statewide and from 54.7-54.9% in Washington County, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Everyone five years of age and older can get a free COVID-19 vaccine, and Washington County Public Health hosts walk-in clinics every Wednesday on the 5th floor of the Federation Bank building in Washington. For more information on dates and times, visit this story at kciiradio.com.