Webster County gained 25 new COVID-19 cases between Monday and Wednesday, a 15% jump that brought the caseload to 191.

The 25 new cases represent the largest increase reported by Webster County Public Health since the pandemic started. The increase over two days punctuated a month in which the county’s cases have more than quadrupled.

On June 1, Webster County had 42 cases. The county’s first case was identified March 26, more than three months ago.

“We expected this increase and we expect these numbers to continue to increase,” said Kari Prescott, director of Webster County Public Health.

Iowa Department of Public Health statistics currently show 161 positives in the county, a figure that is outdated. The reason for the discrepancy is unclear.

Prescott said the IDPH’s website will soon catch up.

“We have a great partnership with health care providers in the county, so we have first-hand knowledge of all tests as they are submitted and test results received,” Prescott said.

Positives cases in Webster County fell into the following age categories:

• Child (age 0-17): 16

• Adult (age 18-40): 94

• Middle age adult (age 41-60): 50

• Older adult (age 61-80): 27

• Elderly (81+): 4

A total of 122 have recovered and been released from public health isolation.

On Tuesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced that the IDPH would change the way it counts COVID-19 recoveries in the state, which increased the number of people shown as recovered.

Starting Monday, the state began considering Iowans to have recovered 28 days after testing positive for COVID-19 — the length of two 14-day incubation periods of the coronavirus — unless information is actively reported to the state indicating a lack of recovery or continued hospitalization.

Before this week, Iowans were only considered recovered once a public health official followed up with them through a phone call, typically about 10 days after their test, confirming full recovery.

This change did not affect county recovery numbers in Webster County, according to Kelli Bloomquist, public information officer for Webster County Public Health.

Before that change, Iowa had a recovery rate of 62%. After “recovered” was redefined, the rate jumped to 80% — roughly the same percentage of cases in which infected people experience symptoms mild enough to allow them to recover at home.

Reynolds said earlier this week that too many calls were going unanswered or unreturned, and that the change “more accurately reflects the number of Iowans recovered.”