Webster County gained 31 new COVID-19 cases since Friday, according to Webster County Public Health, as the White House coronavirus task force moved Webster County into a “red zone” in its latest report to Iowa state officials.

The new increase brings Webster County’s total to 1,112 cases. The increase this week is slightly smaller than the last two reported increases of 59 and 47 cases.

The report issued Sunday from the White House task force designated about two-thirds of Iowa’s counties, including Webster, as having moderate or high levels of community transmission — yellow zones and red zones, respectively.

The task force again pushed Iowa state leaders for more bar closures than the ones in six counties that Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered last month, detailing in the report that “bars must be closed” in 61 counties, including Webster County.

In Webster County, one of the top 12 red zones according to data from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, the task force recommends limiting indoor dining to 25% of total capacity. A red zone is defined as having more than 100 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents and a positivity rate, the proportion of those tested whose results are positive, of at least 10%.

Of the 751 cases in the county at large, 76 are still open and being monitored by WCPH.

There are no new cases from the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility, where 361 cases have been closed.

The cases fall into the following age categories:

• Children (age 0-17): 57

• Adults (age 18-40): 533

• Middle-aged adults (age 41-60): 334

• Older adults (age 61-80): 161

• Elderly adults (age 81+): 27

Webster County Public Health officials continue to recommend mask use in public, echoing similar recommendations from the White House task force. The task force has repeatedly asked state leaders to implement a mask mandate, which the governor has continually rebuffed as unenforceable. The latest iteration of the White House report asks specifically that masks be required in cities and counties where students or teachers in schools have been infected.