Iowa is modifying the way it records COVID-19 deaths, a change that will result in a net increase in the number of Iowans who will be recorded as having died of the virus.
Kelly Garcia, the interim director of the state public health department, told reporters Monday night that the state will now record COVID-19 deaths based on federal cause-of-death coding, which is based on the death record completed by the health care provider.
The change will result in a net addition of 177 additional COVID-related deaths in Iowa as of Monday evening, pushing the state total for the pandemic to 2,898.
“We’ve recognized a need to adjust our death reporting,” Garcia said.
Under the old system, the state recorded a COVID-19 death when a positive test result in the state system matched with a death certificate.
Under that old system, if an individual’s death was deemed COVID-19-related by a physician but the deceased did not have a positive test on file, the state did not record that as a COVID-19-related death.
Under the new system, only the COVID-19 cause-of-death coding is required for the state to recognize it as a COVID-19-related death. A matching positive test is not required.
Garcia said the change will provide better consistency in reporting between county, state and federal government public health agencies, and will better enable researchers in the future to examine the impact of COVID-19 on Iowa.
With the change, the state’s public COVID-19 data will change Tuesday morning, Garcia said. The new recording system will be applied retroactively to the start of the pandemic in March. Many counties will see an increase in total COVID-19-related deaths, while some will see a net decrease.
About 16% of the net statewide increase came from Linn County, where the number of COVID-19-related deaths rose from 173 to 201 as of Monday night. Scott County rose by four from 99 to 103. Black Hawk County went up from 156 to 159.
In Woodbury County, deaths dropped from 140 to 126 as of Monday night with the change. Polk County’s total dropped from 357 to 353, and Johnson County deaths from 41 to 39.
