As classes resumed at the University of Iowa on Monday, the university’s administration published its first COVID-19 case count of the new semester: at least 107 students and four staff members have tested positive so far.
“These numbers reflect only self-reported positive or presumed positive COVID-19 tests from UI faculty, staff, and students on the academic campus since the beginning of the fall semester on Aug. 18, 2020,” according to a campus-wide email sent by UI administrators. “They do not include data reported by the UI Hospitals & Clinics and will not match the totals reported by the Iowa Department of Public Health for several reasons, including different testing time intervals and geographic scope. Students who also are employees of the university are only reported in the student number to avoid double counting.”
Unlike Iowa State University, UI decided not to test students moving into residence halls for COVID-19 as they arrived on campus. UI officials decided that even though such testing “may provide some comfort for families,” it would require “significant resources” and any information produced would be of limited use without an ongoing testing program.
According to UI, there are currently 19 residence hall students in quarantine and eight residence hall students in self-isolation. The email explains that isolation is for students who may have been exposed to the virus, and self-isolation is used to separate people confirmed as having COVID-19 from others.
In the Monday email, which was sent out under the title “A Welcome Message from President Harreld,” students were asked to “follow the three Ws,” which are wear your face covering, wash your hands and watch your distance. But on Saturday night, Gazette reporter Vanessa Miller found that students crowding into bars near campus weren’t social distancing or properly wearing face masks.
“As hundreds waited Saturday and early Sunday to get into Iowa City bars, no one was seen enforcing distancing in the lines,” Miller reported. “Although some students wore masks, few were wearing them over both their nose and mouth as public health guidance call for.”
“The unruly scene came only a day after UI officials issued another campus message reminding students to wear face coverings in accordance with city and county mandates and to keep at least 6 feet from others when possible.”
The line in Iowa City outside The Summit. I’ve seen masks, but not as many around the actual nose and mouth. Classes start Monday. pic.twitter.com/5z3Hhep0mz
— Vanessa Miller (@VanessaMiller12) August 23, 2020
Both the number of new COVID-19 cases and the positivity rate of tests in Johnson County continue to increase. At 10 a.m. on Monday, the Iowa Department of Public Health was reporting 92 new cases had been confirmed in the county during the previous 24 hours. Over the past week, IDPH’s official 14-day average daily positivity rate for Johnson County has increased from 7.1 percent to 9.8 percent.
Statewide, IDPH reported another 471 Iowans had tested positive between 10 a.m. on Sunday and 10 a.m. on Monday. That number included 19 residents of Linn County.
The department also reported the death of a Linn County resident during the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. on Monday, along with four other deaths. The five newly reported deaths brought the state’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,039.
In a brief news release on Sunday, IDPH disclosed that a child died from COVID-19 in June. The child was less than 5 years old and “had significant underlying health conditions,” according to the department.
Although the death occurred in June, the State Medical Examiner’s Office did not complete its investigation and confirm the cause of death until Aug. 6.
“Ultimately, COVID-19 was deemed the cause of death,” according to the news release.
The news release did not explain why it took IDPH more than two weeks to report the child’s death, or why the department decided to do so on a Sunday afternoon.
Indianola schools report a second COVID-19 case
Late on Friday, the Indianola Community School District (ICSD) disclosed that a sixth-grade teacher at Indianola Middle School. It’s the second case confirmed in the district since classes began on Aug. 4. The previous case was reported on Aug. at Irving Elementary School.
The district’s schools are holding in-person classes.
“Contact tracing indicated seven other sixth grade teachers were in direct contact with the teacher who tested positive,” ICSD Superintendent Art Sathoff wrote in a post on the district’s Facebook page.
All eight teachers are supposed to be quarantined for 14 days.
“During quarantine, the district will arrange coverage for the classrooms with substitutes or other staff, and if quarantined teachers are able to work, they will join classrooms remotely through videoconferencing,” Sathoff wrote. “If the district is unable to provide classroom coverage through substitutes and other staff, under essential worker laws, quarantined teachers are allowed to return to work as long as they are being screened and are asymptomatic.”
Sathoff said the district was consulting the Warren County Department of Public Health and had informed IDPH a teacher had tested positive.
