COVID-19 is now in community spread. What does that mean? – Local 5 – weareiowa.com

On top of an explanation, we also have ways to combat it.

DES MOINES, Iowa As of March 14, the coronavirus is now in community spread in the state of Iowa, according to Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The newest positive case of COVID-19 comes from Dallas County. The individual is an older adult (age 61-80).

Based on the new case, and the announcement of community spread in Omaha earlier Saturday evening, the Iowa Department of Public Health has determined there is now community spread within our state.

According to the IDPH, "community spread" occurs when individuals have been infected with the virus, but can't specifically identify the source of the infection, or do not know how or where they became infected.

17 of Iowa's current 18 positive cases have been related to travel to and from areas where the virus is especially abundant, but the latest case has no recent travel history.

Now that the virus has reached community spread within our state, there are new recommendations from the IDPH on how to combat it:

To find more local information on COVID-19 (cases, local trends of the virus), visit the IDPH website.

The phrase "underlying health condition" was mentioned a few times above, but what exactly does that mean?

According to the IDPH, an underlying health condition is a health condition that someone already has that may increase the risk of serious COVID-19 retraction. This includes, but isn't limited to:

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COVID-19 is now in community spread. What does that mean? - Local 5 - weareiowa.com