A Test Iowa site is shown in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in July 2020. Iowa’s COVID-19 positive cases have continued to climb, along with outbreaks at long-term care facilities. (photo/Cindy Hadish)

UPDATE Jan. 26, 2022: Iowa has again reported a spike in COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing homes, with 86 , up 23 from just one week ago. The state also reported a fourth consecutive week of plus-100 deaths, with 184 COVID-19 deaths confirmed, for a total of 8,501. The most recent occurred between Oct. 29 and Jan. 19.

Iowa is reporting rising numbers of COVID-19 outbreaks at nursing homes.

As of Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, the state reported 63 long-term care outbreaks, up from just 18 outbreaks less than one month ago, on Dec. 20, and an increase of seven outbreaks from two days ago.

At the same time, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said she was “very disappointed” by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that upheld a vaccine mandate for health care workers, including those at nursing homes.

“Medical providers that have been on the frontlines of this pandemic saving lives deserve the freedom and ability to make their own informed health care decisions,” Reynolds said in a statement, adding that she firmly believes in “Iowans’ right(s) to make health care decisions based on what’s best for themselves and their families.”

Just over 70 percent of adult Iowans are fully vaccinated, compared to 73.6 percent nationwide.

Unvaccinated Iowans make up 72 percent of those hospitalized in intensive care units and 64 percent of those hospitalized in general.

So far, Iowa has reported 8,317 deaths from COVID-19, an increase of 116 from last week and the third week in a row that deaths have surpassed 100. The deaths reported Jan. 19 occurred between Nov. 26 and Jan. 13.

The state is also seeing a rise in hospitalizations, with 991 Iowans hospitalized as of Jan. 19, up from 953 two days ago.

Iowa reported 36,823 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past week alone, for a total of 728,791 positive tests, and a 24.8 percent positive rate in the past two weeks, up from 11.9 percent at the end of December.

More: Iowa surpasses another grim milestone in COVID-19 deaths