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BS Alert: Iowa Public Health Department Claiming That Coronavirus Curve Is Flattening There.

Merlin1963
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The Iowa Public Health Department has made the following announcement:

 

Although the number of new cases of COVID-19 reported in Iowa hit a one-day high of 125, state health officials said Thursday they are beginning to see an overall flattening of the curve.

With the deaths of two Linn County residents, 29 Iowans now have died from COVID-19, Gov. Kim Reynolds said in her daily news briefing. The number of positive cases has climbed to 1,270 since the pandemic was first noted March 8 in Iowa.

A good sign, the governor said, was that 882 Iowans tested negative for the disease, pushing that number to 13,703 overall.

The latest Iowa Public Health Department numbers show that 115 Iowans are hospitalized for illnesses or symptoms related to COVID-19, while 476 have recovered.

Despite the numbers, Sarah Reisetter, deputy director of the Health Department, said mitigation efforts the governor has ordered and that health officials have advised appear to be paying off.

Public health officials have been predicting that the positive case numbers would rise “and that’s remained true.”

“I can tell you that when we look at our epidemiological curve, it is starting to flatten, which is where we want to be,” Reisetter said. The “curve” refers to the projected number of people who will contract COVID-19 over time.

It’s a miracle!  They did all this without having a shelter in place order!

Oh wait.  How many coronavirus tests have been done in Iowa?  I’m sure it is more than enough to base this announcement on.

From covidtracking.com:

Last synced with our spreadsheet:

4/09 21:12 ET

Tests Hospitalized In ICU On Ventilator
Positive Negative Pending Currently Cumulative Currently Cumulative Currently Cumulative Recovered Deaths Total test results(Positive + Negative)
1,270 13,703 N/A 122 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 476 29 14,973
Last updated: 4/09 00:00 ET
14,973 coronavirus tests for a population of at least 3 million.  That is approximately 0.5% of the population.
Not to pick on Iowa, but no one is doing enough testing for the coronavirus in the country.  Our data on the coronavirus sucks because we do not have enough tests or a national plan for testing. 
It is why I am one of those that question that model that the White House has embraced.  The model assumes that we will do enough testing, and everyone will shelter in place.  Now.  And several states are have no order to shelter in place.
And even in states that have such orders — my own state of Kentucky — there are still assholes who ignore the shelter in place orders.  Besides the religious fanatics in my state, there are still people who are having parties and get togethers.  I know because I have been reading about how the police in cities like Lexington have had to break up 79 such gatherings.
Now, maybe Daily Kos members in Iowa will tell me how wrong I am.  And I would love to hear from you.  But I seriously doubt that Iowa is starting to flatten the coronavirus curve.