Iowa news
Iowa scales back reporting of coronavirus data
Starting Wednesday, Iowa health officials are changing how often they’ll report COVID-19 data. In a memo, officials said starting July 7 they will update the state’s coronavirus website once a week on Wednesdays. Previously, they updated it several times daily throughout the pandemic. They will continue to report positive cases, deaths, vaccine information and hospitalizations. But they have removed and archived several pages including long-term care outbreaks and Test Iowa assessments. (Iowa Public Radio)
Mental health region hires children’s coordinator
The Eastern Iowa Mental Health Board amended its contract with Robert Young Center in the Quad Cities to include a children’s coordinator of behavioral health services position. The region’s governing board allocated $200,000, including salary and benefits, travel, mileage, computer and phone, for the new position. The state requires the region to staff a children’s coordinator who, among other things, acts as a liaison between children and the services they may need. (DeWitt Observer)
An epidemiologist explains what the spread of the delta variant could mean for Iowa
The director of the CDC last week said that the delta variant is a growing threat, especially to unvaccinated people. The highly transmissible variant appears to be gaining strength across Iowa, according to test results from the Iowa State Hygienic Laboratory. In each of the past two weeks, the delta variant accounted for more than half of positive coronavirus tests from Iowa, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. (Iowa Public Radio)
National news
COVID-19’s delta variant is highly contagious. Will vaccines work against it?
The delta variant now accounts for half of the COVID-19 cases in many areas of the US, President Joe Biden said Tuesday, urging unvaccinated Americans to get the COVID-19 shots as the US faces a dramatic rise in the “hypertransmissible” variant of the coronavirus. His plea included reassurances about the strength of the COVID-19 vaccines available in the US. (NBC News)
The state of COVID-19 in the United States, in five charts
After more than a year of pandemic-related lockdowns, social distancing and masking, life is feeling much more normal. But COVID-19 still looms large. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the “hypertransmissible” delta variant could have caused the recent 10% increase in new COVID-19 cases in the country. The news comes as states have largely abandoned mask mandates and reopened their economies, and as several states trail on vaccinations. The CDC said the country’s lagging vaccination rate has contributed to the uptick in cases. (NBC News)
Death rates dipping for some of the most common cancers
Death rates are declining for more than half of the most common forms of cancer in the US. A report released by the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other collaborators, found that between 2014 and 2018, death rates dropped for 11 out of 19 of the most common cancers among men and 14 of the 20 most prevalent cancers among women. (Kaiser Health News)