(Red Oak) — Public health officials are still keeping an eye on COVID-19 in Montgomery County while preparing for the upcoming flu season.
According to the Iowa Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard, Montgomery County has reported seven cases in the past seven days. Montgomery County Public Health Administrator Samantha Beeson tells KMA News that trend has been consistent over the past several weeks, as cases in the county have remained relatively low compared to a peak during the summer.
“We’ve been having anywhere between five to 10 cases every seven to 14 days and just in comparison, this summer we were averaging around 50 every 14 days,” Beeson explained. “So we are relatively low.”
She adds most at-home test kits are not reported to the state and are thus not reflected in the case count unless an individual used a Test Iowa kit from the county public health office.
At the same time, the county’s vaccination rate has continued to rise slightly to 56% fully immunized, including a significant amount of the county’s older population.
“So the 65 and older population is 94.2% vaccinated, 40-49 is 55.1%, your 30-39 year olds are 49.7%, and 10-19 is 33.6%,” said Beeson.
As the county continues to monitor COVID-19, Beeson says her office is also gearing up for the upcoming flu season — which typically peaks from December through March. While no mass flu clinics are currently scheduled, Beeson says her office can set up clinics for area businesses.
“So if you have a business, and you would like us to come your place of business — we travel, — we don’t bill the insurance but it is private pay so you would just pay for the flu shot,” she said.
However, Beeson says her office can also administer flu shots to individuals at the public health office. She adds bivalent COVID-19 booster shots and flu vaccines are also available at Internal Medicine and the Physicians Clinic at the Montgomery County Memorial Hospital. For more information or to set up a business flu shot clinic, contact Montgomery County Public Health at 712-623-4893.
