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Iowa’s COVID-19 numbers appear to drop after a recent spike
After the number of COVID-19 infections and death spiked in Iowa, the numbers have turned downward in recent days — although there are still wide variations in the data being reported out of Iowa. Last Wednesday, Iowa reported 18 deaths of people with coronavirus, the highest single-day total in six weeks. On July 10, the […]
State medical director: CDC help ‘wasn’t needed’ with packing-plant outbreaks
State Medical Director Caitlin Pedati said Friday she never accepted an offer of federal assistance to deal with COVID-19 outbreaks in meatpacking plants because Iowa didn’t need the help. Emails from federal agencies show that on April 15, Pedati declined an offer of on-site assistance from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with regard to […]
Reynolds orders Iowa schools to ‘welcome back’ students to classroom
Gov. Kim Reynolds is ordering all Iowa schools to begin the process of “preparing to safely welcome back students and teachers” to the classroom next month. Reynolds said that “the expectation is, especially with core subjects, that over 50 percent of those subjects (will) be offered in the school building.” Reynolds made the announcement Friday […]
COVID-19 deaths spike in Iowa as infections continue to climb
Eighteen Iowans are reported to have died of the coronavirus on Wednesday, the highest single-day total in six weeks. Although the the Iowa Department of Public Health was reporting on Thursday that only two or three Iowans had died of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the New York Times’ database, which includes probable as well as confirmed […]
Fee for accessing public-health emails increases to almost $10,000
The Iowa Department of Public Health says “a typo” caused the agency to misstate the fee it intends to charge before considering whether it will disclose a select group of emails sent to and from the state medical director. The actual fee for access is close to $10,000, which is 23% more than what the […]
Iowa workers who take leave due to virus fears likely to be denied unemployment benefits
Iowans are being denied state unemployment benefits after taking leaves of absence due to fear of COVID-19, newly disclosed records show. However, the records also show that Iowans who quit their jobs due to unsafe working conditions related to the pandemic are more often awarded benefits. In one case involving a Tyson Foods employee, a […]
Axne joins AARP in call for more testing of Iowa seniors
U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne is calling on Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds to offer additional COVID-19 testing for older Iowans living in nursing homes. In a letter Monday to Iowa’s Republican governor, Axne, a Democrat who represents Iowa’s 3rd congressional district, also requested the creation of a dedicated, mobile Test Iowa team focused on testing seniors and […]
Access to public health official’s emails will cost at least $8,000
The Iowa Department of Public Health is asking for at least $8,000 to publicly disclose two months’ worth of emails between the state medical director and a select group of other state officials. Last month, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported that emails obtained from a federal agency show that the state medical director, Dr. Caitlin […]
Car insurance scam results in deferred judgment for Iowa man
A 25-year-old Storm Lake man received a deferred judgment in Buena Vista County District Court for his part in an insurance-fraud scheme. Court records indicate that last April, Nathan Tun of Storm Lake conspired with two acquaintances, Juan Alvarez and Jesus Mendez Miranda, in a scheme to take his 2013 Subaru Impreza to Texas or […]
Auditor: Test Iowa program violates the law, creates needless risks
The state auditor said Tuesday that the Iowa Department of Public Health is violating the law and exposing Iowans to greater health risk through the delayed reporting of COVID-19 test results. Auditor of State Rob Sand issued a report Tuesday that alleges the results from the COVID-19 testing conducted through the Test Iowa program are […]
Iowa posts a record number of new COVID-19 infections
The statewide number of new COVID-19 cases topped 900 on Friday, setting a new Iowa record for the highest daily total recorded so far during the 2020 pandemic. Although the daily number of new infections was reported by the Iowa Department of Public Health to be 628 on Friday, July 10, the New York Times’ […]
Iowa’s new infections top 700 for only the fifth time during pandemic
For only the fifth time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the daily number of new infections in Iowa has topped 700. The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 33,756 confirmed cases of the virus on Friday, an increase of 744 from Thursday’s total of 33,012. The Reuters news service, which uses a slightly different method […]