While the actual number of COVID-19 cases in Iowa’s urban areas is far ahead of the state’s rural areas, when looking at the proportion of cases based on population, the rural areas are exponentially harder hit than urban counties.

As of Monday, Washington County has 136 confirmed cases and six deaths. If those numbers are looked at per 100,000 population, the county has 614.2 cases.

Comparatively Johnson County only has 297.3 cases per 100,000 population, and Linn County only has 276 cases per 100,000 population.

Neighboring Louisa County has been walloped. The rural county, which has had a major outbreak at a meatpacking plant in Columbus Junction, has 2,379 cases per 100,000 population as of Monday.

Washington County Director of Public Health Danielle Pettit-Majewski said that Washington County high numbers are due to its proactive testing, especially early in the pandemic.

The Washington County Hospital and Clinics set up a respiratory clinic in mid-March for screening anyone with COVID-19 symptoms. Anyone going through the clinic was tested. Pettit-Majewski added that many people in north Washington County were tested at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

The new Test Iowa program should provide more testing in coming weeks.

She said 643 people have been tested in the county, with 136 positive cases. About 100 people have recovered from the disease. The number of cases at the McCreedy Home in Washington has dropped as many patients recovered.

The Washington County cases jumped by more than 20 cases the first weekend that the state did extensive testing at the Tyson Foods plant in neighboring Louisa County.

“We have seen an uptick because of that,” Pettit-Majewski said.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has begun loosening restrictions in areas that have not seen as many cases. Washington and Johnson counties are not among those counties.

“It looks like the peak is a week away,” Pettit-Majewski said.

While that sounds like good news, she cautioned that the peak means the county is at the middle of the pandemic, not the end.

“Getting to the peak is not the goal, it’s getting to the bottom of the hill,” Pettit-Majewski said.

She said people need to continue social distancing and measures designed to prevent the spread of the disease.

Pettit-Majewski said she is encouraged by the number of people she sees wearing masks, stores that have installed Plexiglass barriers between cashiers and customers, and store floors marked to keep customers 6 feet apart.

“I think there is a lot of good work being done,” she said. “I’ve been very proud of what Washington County residents have done.”