Hamilton County had an additional 40 positive COVID-19 cases in the past seven days, according to the coronavirus.iowa.gov.

Currently, there is a 10 percent positivity rate throughout the county. There have been a total of 2,488 positive tests in Hamilton County since reporting began for the pandemic, and 2,018 have recovered, according to the website data. There have been 53 deaths in the county related to COVID-19.

Hamilton County Public Health Administrator Shelby Kroona Wednesday continued to encourage area residents to get vaccinated, even those who have recovered from COVID-19.

“If you have had COVID-19, you should still get vaccinated for the protections the vaccine offers,” she said. “It will help protect against the variants out there and may protect them from hospitalization.”

Across Region 3 — the northwest section of the state which includes Hamilton County — has 80 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, including 18 that are patients in intensive care units. Seven patients have been admitted to the hospital in the past 24 hours, according to the website.

The highest percentage of positive cases for Hamilton County fall into the 30 to 39 age group. Twenty-five percent of the cases fall into that group, followed closely by 20 percent in the 40 to 49 age group. Eighteen percent of the positive cases are 60 to 69 years old and 13 percent are 0 to age 17.

Hamilton County’s vaccination rate continues to inch upward with 55.3 percent of the population now fully vaccinated.