Iowa public health officials announce end to mandatory COVID-19 reporting, weekly reports
The state of Iowa is rolling back COVID-19 reporting.
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday that effective April 1, the state will no longer require that positive COVID-19 tests be reported to public health officials.
Iowa's top health officials have required since March 2020 that any COVID-19 test processed in a clinical lab be reported to the state. But in recent months, officials said, this type of monitoring "no longer accurately reflects the prevalence of the virus in the state" due to the widespread availability of rapid at-home tests. The results of those tests do not have to be reported to the state.
Iowa's weekly COVID-19 reports, which have served as the predominant source of information about the spread of coronavirus in the state, also will end. Beginning April 1, new COVID-19 data will instead be incorporated into respiratory virus surveillance reports published each week by HHS officials, aligning coronavirus monitoring with the standard for other respiratory viruses.
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State public health officials noted there are no reporting mandates for illnesses such as influenza and RSV.
“It’s important for Iowans to know that the Public Health Division will monitor the virus, just as we do for other respiratory illnesses,” State Medical Director Dr. Robert Kruse said in a statement. “The Public Health Division will continue to work collaboratively with our local health departments, healthcare partners in the state, and partners at the federal level.”
As of Wednesday, nearly 2,300 Iowans had tested positive for the coronavirus in the past week, an increase in new weekly cases since a month ago, according to data from the state.
In total, 10,671 Iowans have died as a result of the virus since it reached Iowa in March 2020.
U.S. public health emergency over COVID-19 also coming to an end in 2023
The announcement on reporting requirements comes as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services plans to end the federal public health emergency for COVID-19. The proclamation — which has been in place since the pandemic began in the United States three years ago — is set to expire May 11.
Gov. Kim Reynolds ended Iowa's public health disaster proclamation about a year ago, discontinuing requirements that hospitals report COVID-19 patient counts and that nursing homes report outbreaks. It also pulled the plug on the state website dedicated to reporting COVID data, but the state continued to provide weekly updates on positive tests, deaths and cases by county.
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Michaela Ramm covers health care for the Des Moines Register. She can be reached at mramm@registermedia.com, at (319) 339-7354 or on Twitter at @Michaela_Ramm.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa's weekly COVID reports will shut down with mandatory reporting
