Grundy County sees first death from COVID-19

On Tuesday, July 14, 2020, Grundy County Public Health released a statement indicating that the first death has occurred in Grundy County due to complications from COVID-19.

In Grundy County, the actual positive cases did not leap as they did the previous two weeks, and Grundy County is sitting at 48 total cases, but the death weighs heavy in the air from a community that has staved off the worst of the effects for so long. The information released by GCPH indicated that the individual was elderly, above the age of 80 years, and had been following isolation recommendations.

“We wish to extend our sympathy to this individual’s family,” said GCPH Program Coordinator, Katie Thornton-Lang, per the press release. “Grundy County Public Health and all of our key partners throughout the county and state continue to work to limit the spread and impact of this virus in our communities.”

As of 10 a.m. Tuesday, Iowa reported an additional 368 cases of COVID-19 and three additional COVID-19-related deaths in the last 24 hours. State officials reported a total of 756 people with COVID-19 have died from the disease in Iowa since the pandemic began.  

A total of 381,299 Iowans have been tested, including 1,377 in Grundy County, indicating a 3.5% positivity rate of those tested within the county. A total of 35,830 people have tested positive in Iowa.

In the counties surrounding Grundy, the numbers continue to grow as well. In Black Hawk County, there are 2,540 total reported cases, which is an increase of about 100 cases since last week, while there are also 59 total deaths reported. Hardin County has 92 positive cases, and in Butler there are 71. There are a reported 490 and 1,104 positive cases in Tama and Marshall counties respectively. Data for these figures was provided by coronavirus.iowa.gov, the official dashboard for tracking COVID-19.