UPDATE: On April 21, the model moved Iowa’s peak forward one day to May 7, and estimates that peak to be 11 deaths per day.
Despite early projections, Iowa’s expected peak for coronavirus deaths per day has now moved back into May.
The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) has been widely used in the country, including by the White House, to project the impact of COVID-19 on every state. It predicts when a state will reach its peak daily deaths and hospital use.
The model is based on a state’s deaths and infection fatality ratios. It also takes into account state-issued social distancing measures like business closures, stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions.
On April 1, Iowa’s peak was projected for April 30. On April 17 — the most recent update — the model moved the peak back to May 8. At the peak, the model estimates 17 deaths a day.
“After June 29, 2020, relaxing social distancing may be possible with containment strategies that include testing, contact tracing, isolation, and limiting gathering size,” the page says.
So far, April 14 has been the deadliest day with 8 deaths.
Gov. Kim Reynolds has implemented three of the six social distancing measures outlined by the IHME: restrictions on mass gatherings, school closures, and initial business closures.
In mid-March, she issued her first Public Health Disaster Emergency. In it, fitness centers, gaming facilities like casinos, theaters and senior citizen centers were closed. Mass gathers were ordered canceled or postponed and restaurants and bars were required to close or move to carry-out, drive-through or delivery only.
However, Iowa remains one of just a handful of states in the country that has not issued a statewide stay-at-home order. Though the Northeast Iowa region recently reached a 10 on the state’s metrics system, which then calls for a shelter-in-place directive at that time, Reynolds only issued a few additional social-distancing measures and did not call it a “shelter-in-place” move.
Since the earlier modeling, Iowa has developed some of the biggest outbreak hotspots in the country at meat packing plants. Those cases, and the number of plants and long-term care facilities, themselves have continued to increase. A few plants, like Tyson in Columbus Junction and National Beef in Tama, suspended operations, but are now reopening. Others, like a facility in Waterloo, have rejected calls from local leaders to halt business while the spread can be contained.
Ten long-term care facilities in the state have reported double-digit numbers of cases among both staff and residents. Last week, the majority of deaths in the state came from those cases at long-term care facilities.
The total number of cases have risen dramatically, too. On March 17, Iowa had 27 cases and by yesterday the state reported 3,159.
Three of the social distancing strategies that haven’t been taken, according to the model, involve the governor issuing a stay-at-home order, severely limiting travel and closing non-essential services. The last one is measured by whether there are enforceable penalties for non-compliance from the non-essential services.
The projection is an estimate, based on data and statistics, but still not definite. It’s most useful for hospitals and governments to plan for changes and brace for increases. Reynolds and state leaders were critical of the model’s projections for Iowa early on, but they only recently started the process for creating their own Iowa model.
by Nikoel Hytrek
Posted 4/21/20
Iowa Starting Line is an independently-owned progressive news outlet devoted to providing unique, insightful coverage on Iowa news and politics. We need reader support to continue operating — please donate here. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more coverage.
1 Comment on "Modeling Pushes Iowa’s Curve Back"
This Think Tank at U of Washington in Seattle has extensive experience in predicting the peak time for epidemics. They must use some complex data from each state, put the numbers into a computer and the predictions are very accurate.
When I contacted their website 2 or 3 weeks ago, they had predicted May 5 as the peak for Iowa. This date can change based on new data submitted by IDPH every day.
Last week Gov. Reynolds announced that U of Iowa had signed a contract to develop some models for important findings from all 99 counties in Iowa. We were not told how much this would cost and when to expect their report.
The number of deaths in nursing homes was probably expected but once again, we were not warned.
The info we get from Gov. and IDPH every day at press conference is not totally complete and this deception by omission should NOT be tolerated by our AG Tom Miller and our state legislators. There needs to be a full investigation later this year.
One other comment that may seem sexist but needs some thought. There are only a few men who have made reports and only one guy appointed to a group to get food distributed to needy Iowans. Most men are poor cooks but love to eat basic food.
We need some men to lead various teams that respond to this crisis and get their opinions discussed in all of the meetings. Men and women do not view the problems in the same way and if you want to see a real leader in action, watch Gov. Andrew Cuomo of NY on MSNBC at 10 am daily.