Today’s NewsStand

Today’s NewsStand

By Iowa Hospital Association|
|October 20, 2021

Iowa news

AEA Learning Online seeks to bring more online career modules to Iowa students

AEA Learning Online, a self-funded subsidiary of the state’s nine-AEA system, is primarily devoted to developing online educational materials for teachers. In 2016, the organization began producing career education modules for students as well. It now has a library of 25 company-sponsored online education modules, each of which highlights career opportunities within that business and the broader industry. (Business Record)

Health experts push Iowans to get flu shot as COVID-19 hospitalizations increase

Health officials are urging Iowans to get their annual flu shot as the state’s hospitals battle the most recent wave of COVID-19 infections. According to state health officials, 642 Iowans were hospitalized for COVID-19 as of last week, the highest number of hospitalizations reported this year. (Iowa Public Radio)

Hy-Vee prepares for federal vaccine rule

Communication circulated among Hy-Vee employees statewide last week about the company’s reaction to President Joe Biden’s emergency order requiring federal employees be vaccinated set social media rumbling. Many who posted and commented appeared to believe that a video posted on the West Des Moines-based grocery retailer’s staff website and a letter circulated to Hy-Vee site managers was ordering employees to provide proof of vaccination by Oct. 22 or face weekly testing at their own expense. What’s really happening, according to Tina Potthoff, Hy-Vee’s senior vice president of communication, is that the company is preparing for a possible federal rule requiring all employers with at least 100 employees show proof their staffs are vaccinated or are being tested weekly for COVID-19. (The Gazette)

National news

US COVID-19 cases fall for 4th consecutive week

COVID-19 cases have declined nationwide for the fourth consecutive week, according to the CDC’s COVID data tracker weekly review published Oct. 15. The nation’s current seven-day case average is 84,555, a 12.5 percent decrease from the previous week’s average. The current seven-day hospitalization average for Oct. 6-12 is 6,659, an 8.8 percent drop from the previous week’s average. (Becker’s Hospital Review)

CDC releases data on COVID-19 cases, deaths by vaccine type

Unvaccinated people are about six times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 and 11 times more likely to die from the illness compared to people who are vaccinated, though there are slight differences in risk based on vaccine type, according to newly released CDC data. The CDC published data Oct. 15 that breaks down the rate of COVID-19 cases and deaths by vaccination status and vaccine type. The rates are based on data from 16 public health departments — representing about 30 percent of the U.S. population — and cover April through the end of August. (Becker’s Hospital Review)

A record number of workers are quitting their jobs, empowered by new leverage

The number of people quitting their jobs has surged to record highs, pushed by a combination of factors that include Americans sensing ample opportunity and better pay elsewhere. Some 4.3 million people quit jobs in August — about 2.9 percent of the workforce, according to new data released Tuesday from the Labor Department. Those numbers are up from the previous record, set in April, of about 4 million people quitting, reflecting how the pandemic has continued to jolt workers’ mind-set about their jobs and their lives. (The Washington Post)

Become a hospital advocate. Sign up for IHA Action Alerts.

Click here