Top state officials say a new data point seems to indicate the effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 may be working in Iowa.  Governor Kim Reynolds Friday reported two more Iowans have died of the disease and 118 new cases of the virus were confirmed by testing in the past 24 hours. Iowa Department of Public Health director Sarah Reisetter (REE-stir) says also they’re tracking other numbers — about when patients begin to show symptoms.

“We have said all along that we anticipated last week was going to be a difficult week in terms of cases. Again, at the beginning of this week, we said we fully expected to see our case numbers start to climb,” Reisetter says. “But, when we look at our onset of symptoms data, that appears to be flattening.” Governor Reynolds says that data showing when Iowans who’ve gotten a positive COVID-19 test first began showing symptoms of the virus will be released to the public next week. The Iowa Department of Public Health’s website shows 1388 positive cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Iowa and the deaths of 31 Iowans are linked to the virus.