COVID-19 Iowa Death Toll Now At 26
(Des Moines) — The number of Iowa deaths due to the COVID-19 coronavirus is now at 26. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds delivered the latest number of positive cases during her daily news conference held this morning. Reynolds says a significant percentage of coronavirus cases are at long-term care
facilities.
The number, as of Tuesday morning, is 102 new confirmed cases, with a total of 1,048 cases across the state of Iowa. During the news conference, Adjutant General Ben Corell of the Iowa National Guard spoke about the many ways the Guard is assisting with the efforts to combat the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Corell mentioned that he has established joint activation centers, at three locations across Iowa. One is headquartered at Sioux City.
Governor Requests More Businesses To Close To Fight Coronavirus
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Gov. Kim Reynolds is ordering the closure of malls and playgrounds and urging Iowans to stay home during what she called a critical week for containing the coronavirus pandemic. Reynolds said at a news conference that local police would begin enforcing her order to bar gatherings of 10 people and that violators could be warned or cited. The more
aggressive moves come after Reynolds faced intense criticism in recent days for refusing to issue a statewide stay-at-home order as the number of cases increases. Reynolds on Monday confirmed two more nursing homes have outbreaks
involving at least three residents who have tested positive.
Conservation Board Executive Explains Governor’s Proclamation On County Parks
(Le Mars) — Among the businesses and recreation activities Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has asked to be shut down includes campgrounds. Nick Beeck is the Executive Director with the Plymouth County Conservation Board. He says campground rental is the main source of income for the county parks. Beeck
says during the short-term, the governor’s ruling won’t have much of an impact on Plymouth County Conservation Board’s campgrounds since they are not scheduled to open until May 1st.
Beeck says although the county’s campground sites open on May 1st, they do not become busy until the Memorial Day weekend.
Between Hillview near Hinton and River’s Bend at Akron, the Plymouth County Conservation Board has 58 campsites for RV’s, trailers, and other camping vehicles. It also has three cabins, plus vast areas designated for tent camping only. Beeck says the governor’s proclamation is forbidding short-term recreational visits. However, long-term housing at a campground is
exempted.
The Conservation Board official says people are still visiting the parks, however, the nature center has been closed, as is also the playgrounds. Beeck says one activity that remains open and has attracted visitors is fishing at the county parks.
Farmers Getting Prepared For Spring Planting
(Le Mars) — Farmers are only a few weeks away from planting this year’s crops, and many are taking advantage of the nice weather to get their equipment and fields prepared for the upcoming spring planting season. In east central Iowa, Rebecca Vittetoe is the Crops Specialist and Agronomist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Vittetoe, a Le Mars
native, says farmers in her region are beginning their early field work.
Vittetoe says the ten counties in her region started out wet, but lately have seen some drying conditions.
The Iowa State University Extension agronomist says soil temperatures in her region are still a bit cool for planting seeds.
Vittetoe says many farmers in the east-central Iowa region were not able to get into their fields last May, due to the wet conditions, and even some flooding. She says this year farmers are altering their plans somewhat, so if there is a window of opportunity to plant, they want to take full advantage.
Vittetoe says from her observations she believes east-central Iowa generally has about ten more growing days than what we have in northwest Iowa. The Iowa Department of Agriculture in its weekly crop condition report has indicated there has not been any planting of major crops take place in the state.
Judge Orders Hat To Be Tested For DNA To Determine If Prisoner Has Been Falsely Accused And Sentenced
FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) – A judge has ordered DNA testing on a hat left at the scene of a fatal 1976 shooting that an Iowa inmate hopes will prove he has been wrongly imprisoned for decades. Judge John Wright ordered the hunting cap shipped to a Virginia laboratory for testing that could show whether Gentric Hicks or someone else was responsible for the killing at a Fort Madison motel. Scientists will seek to extract genetic material from inside the cap to create a DNA profile that could be compared to Hicks. Results from the Bode Cellmark laboratory could be available in coming months. Iowa has never had an inmate exonerated by DNA evidence.
County Fairs Are Being Held In Limbo Due To Coronavirus
(Des Moines) — It’s still a roll of the dice as to whether the Iowa State Fair will be held this August due to the pandemic, and the fate of dozens of Iowa -county- fairs is also in doubt. Tom Barnes of Cresco is executive director of the Association of Iowa Fairs and he says it’s all up in the air.
Officials with county fairs across Iowa are monitoring the developments of COVID-19 and its impact on this year’s expositions, which are a highlight of summertime for many rural
communities.
More than three-and-a-half million people attend Iowa’s
fairs and festivals in a typical year, so it would be a tremendous loss to communities in every one of the state’s 99 counties to cancel the fair season.
Loren Schnepf is the president of the Plymouth County Fair and says at this time, fair board officials are still hoping to have the “Best Five Days Of Summer” celebration.
Dave Hoffman of Le Mars is the president of the Iowa State Fair. He says state fair officials have been conducting telephone conference calls on a regular basis to monitor the situation.
Hoffman says Gary Slater, the manager of the Iowa State Fair has been constantly visiting with his colleagues that represent the state fairs across the Midwest.
Hoffman says there are no public events, and the fair is closed, with many of the staff working from home. The exception is the construction work as it continues, and is on schedule for completion in time of the 2020 Iowa State Fair.
The Iowa State Fair president says if the coronavirus is no longer a threat to the public’s health by the time of the Iowa State Fair, and the state is given an “all clear” signal, he says either two things may occur. Either people will want to get out of their homes since they had been in isolation for several months, and the fair would give them a reason to celebrate and act as a release from having been stir-crazy. Or, what he fears what may
happen is that people will not have complete confidence, and may not want to be in a crowd at the state fair, and not wanting to take a chance on touching anything.
A complete listing of all 106 of the -scheduled- county fair dates for this year may be found at www.iowafairs.com.
Iowa Among Four States Without A “Stay-at-Home” Order
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – While most governors have imposed stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the coronavirus, leaders of a handful of states have rejected such action. Nine Republican governors have refused to mandate that people stay at home. Local leaders have taken action in some of those
states. North Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa and Arkansas are the only states where no one is under a stay-at-home order. The lack of action from those governors has frustrated health experts and left some residents puzzled. An infectious disease expert at the University of California-Berkeley says the longer officials wait, the harder it is for such orders to have a substantial impact
on the virus’ spread.
Governor Reynolds Defends Her Actions On Coronavirus
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is defending her use of a tool to help guide the state’s response to the outbreak that critics have called arbitrary and unscientific. The matrix developed by the Iowa Department of Public Health looks at four data points in six regions of the state. If any one region hits 10 on a 12-point scale, the matrix calls for
the potential implementation of a shelter-in-place order. Critics include a top infectious disease researcher and other medical experts. They argue that the data points are backward-looking rather than preventive because they trigger stricter interventions only after more people are infected and hospitalized.
Three Iowa Long-term Nursing Care Facilities Identified As Having Serious COVID-19 Outbreaks
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – The Iowa Department of Public Health has released the identities of two nursing homes where outbreaks of the coronavirus have infected residents and contributed to a large share of the state’s known infections. The facilities were identified Tuesday as the McCreedy Home in
Washington County and Premier Estates of Toledo in Tama County. Health officials had withheld that information from the public Monday. Those homes and Heritage Specialty Care in Cedar Rapids are the sites of the three outbreaks at long-term care facilities confirmed in Iowa. Under the state’s
definition, that means three or more residents have tested positive.
Fertilizer Spill Reported In Southeastern Iowa
MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa (AP) – Iowa environmental officials are investigating a fertilizer spill in southeastern Iowa. The Iowa Department of Nature Resources said Tuesday in a news release that the spill occurred Monday in eastern Mount Pleasant, when a fertilizer truck overturned at the interchange of U.S. Highways 34 and 218. Investigators say the Mount Pleasant Liqui-Grow
truck spilled most of its 2,400-gallon load of high nitrogen fertilizer – as well as some diesel fuel – into a roadside ditch. Some 400 gallons of fertilizer was recovered, but the other 2,000 gallons reached an unnamed tributary of Heather Branch Creek
