Major Metro Area in Iowa Named National COVID Hotspot

The Sioux City Journal reported that the Sioux City Metro area ("Siouxland"), has just been named a national hotspot for COVID-19 cases.

For two straight days late this week, the area recorded a tripling of cases, with many of them being linked to a Tyson Foods plant in Dakota City, Nebraska. Dakota County, Nebraska saw 129 cases on Thursday, April 23 increasing their total to 295, while Woodbury County in Iowa reported 133 cases on Friday, April 24 bringing theirs to 287.

Siouxland's unusually rapid escalation of growth in cases over a two-day period is how it became listed as a national COVID-19 "hotspot", which according to the New York Times, are the U.S. cities with the highest daily growth rate.

In the five Siouxland counties including Woodbury and Plymouth in Iowa, Dakota, Dixon and Wayne in Nebraska, and Union County in South Dakota, 601 total positive cases were reported as of Friday.