January by the numbers has been a horrible month for COVID-19 in Polk County.

At one point, it had one of the highest two-week average of new positives, and more new cases were reported this month than any other since tracking began last March.

COVID-19 took the lives of 17 people, hospitalized 80 people and was likely responsible 4 probable deaths amid growth across all sectors.

Yet amid this spike in numbers, the daily data added by the state since last year is finally seeing some slowdown in the virus locally following a bump after the holidays and extended well into the beginning of 2021. It’s now looked to stabilize again, providing an opportunity for some parts of life to slowly resume some normality.

To provide some context to the numbers, here’s what a month-to-month growth of new positives (PCR) cases looks like in Polk County:

The 833 cases reported this month is the largest such growth ever reported for Polk County, though in recent days the numbers have been falling again.

Amid the worst of the spike on January 8, a record number of new cases was reported during one day with 75 positives were added, and the two-week average of new cases jumped to 32.6%. The month’s spike caused local governments to close their lobbies and offices to the public for the time being, until new cases started to fall again. Crowd sizes at sports events were limited to just the families of each side to keep the potential for transmission of the virus down, while some availability of the vaccine began to show up in Polk County.

Numbers as the month comes a close over these past three days have settled down some compared to where they were.

On the flipside, antigen positive cases have steadily grown locally, averaging a new 14 cases per day during the month of January. The number ended the month with 1,340 antigen positives in total for Polk.

Since last week, the number of new cases dramatically dropped on Monday, went up again to 18 on Tuesday, then remained 22 for the next three days until the close of the final days of January. Then on Saturday, the number of new cases went down to 15, while the percentage of overall positives was finally above the two-week average in Polk County. Those figures sat at 16.2% overall, and 15.7% for the two-week average.

It’s the first time since mid-December when the spike began to accumulate new cases since the two-week average has been below the overall average of positives cases.

Only two deaths were added in the past week, and 13 hospitalizations. That’s compared to a week earlier in the month when cases saw a huge jump when 42 new patients and two new deaths were added. The worst part of the month for new deaths were the six added in a four-day stretch from Jan. 13 through Jan. 16. The state reported deaths on 12 out of 31 days of the month of January in Polk County.

New daily positives on the state level remain on the higher side compared to the start of the holiday spike that seems to be extending through the first full month of the year.

December 2020 saw 141,747 new cases added in the state, and January outpaced that with 174,472 new cases this year. The state also reported 2,681 deaths, 7,875 hospitalizations, and 951 people who needed ICU treatment.

Antigen positives went up by 57,060 during the month statewide.

Nationally, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that COVID-19 infected another 6,261,727 people over the course of January, and was responsible for 96,836 deaths.

Amid the monthly tallies is some good news: by months end, the nation had vaccinated 31,123,299 people so far since the program began.

The virus has mutated in several spots around the globe, and those new strains are now making it to American shores. The virus has three notable variants: the B.1.1.7. strain that mutated in the United Kingdom and has shown up in the United States, the B.1.351 strain in South Africa which a few cases have been reported in the news, and the P.1 strain in Brazil that was identified in past weeks after travels visiting Japan showed up, and has also made it to the shores of the United States.

Some reports have come into Polk.Today on local vaccinations for specific groups being conducted at the Polk County Health Department, but widespread vaccination is not yet available.

Please continue to socially distance, wear a mask, and use hand sanitizer regularly to help prevent the spread of the virus throughout the community.