COVID-19 Count Spiking In Mills County

Mills County is experiencing a significant surge in COVID-19 activity.

On Tuesday, Mills County Public Health (MCPH) reported 39 new cases of COVID-19, the highest weekly number of cases since the coronavirus outbreak began last winter. The previous high  mark for Mills County was 21 cases reported for the week of Sept. 16-22.

As of Monday, 16 COVID cases (10 staff members and six residents) had been confirmed at the Glenwood Resource Center, according to an online document posted by the Iowa Department of Human Services.

In announcing the “uptick” in COVID-19 activity Tuesday morning, MCPH Administrator Julie Lynes stressed the importance of wearing a mask to mitigate spread of the virus.

“Wear your mask whenever you might be within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes of anyone outside of those you live with,” she said.

Of the 39 cases confirmed over the past week, 19 were in the 19-40 age range; five were in the 0-18 age range; 10 were in the 41-60 range;  three were in the 61-80 range; and two were over 80 years old.

The new cases in Mills County are a mixture of “known contact” and “community spread.” The county now has a total of 221 confirmed cases with 143 classified as “recovered.” The 14-day positivity rate for Mills County is 6.9 percent, up from 6.6 percent one week ago.

The Glenwood, East Mills and Fremont-Mills school districts all have recorded at least one case of the coronavirus.

“We are experiencing a significant uptick in positive cases, with 39 new positive COVID-19 cases in the past seven days,” Lynes said. “We want to remind you of changes that went into effect Sept. 28. If you and others you are in close contact with are all wearing masks correctly, close-contact risk is mitigated to the point where they will not have to quarantine.

“This is a big change. This will help schools, businesses and our community contain the spread of the virus.”