Another 97 Iowans have tested positive for COVID-19, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported on Wednesday. The new cases include 11 residents of Linn County and 13 residents of Johnson County. Ten of the new Johnson County cases were adults between the ages of 18 and 40.
• Allamakee County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Benton County, 1 child (0-17 years)
• Black Hawk County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 3 middle-age adults (41-60 years)
• Cedar County, 3 adults (18-40 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Clinton County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Crawford County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Harrison County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Henry County, 2 adults (18-40 years)
• Johnson County, 10 adults (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 2 older adult (61-80 years)
• Linn County, 1 child (0-17 years), 4 adults (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 3 older adults (61-80 years), 2 elderly adults (81+)
• Louisa County, 4 adults (18-40 years), 5 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Marshall County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Muscatine County, 4 adults (18-40 years), 5 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Polk County, 2 adults (18-40 years), 4 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Pottawattamie County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Scott County, 4 adults (18-40 years), 7 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Tama County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 2 older adults (61-80 years)
• Warren County, 1 elderly adult (81+)
• Washington County, 3 adults (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Webster County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Woodbury County, 2 middle-age adults (41-60 years)
• Worth County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
IDPH also reported the death of Linn County resident over the age of 81.
The newly reported cases bring the number of Iowans who have tested positive for COVID-19 to 1,145. Residents of 79 of the state’s 99 counties have now tested positive. The number of deaths attributed to the virus in Iowa now stands at 27.
But at her Wednesday press conference on the state’s response to COVID-19, Gov. Kim Reynolds was able to see some positive aspects to IDPH’s numbers.
“What we have seen over the last seven to nine days is our positive cases have been pretty stagnant,” the governor said. “So, they’ve staying pretty much the same over the seven to nine days.”
“And that’s really what has been our goal,” she said, referred to efforts to “flatten the curve” when measuring new cases.
The last nine days have seen increases as small as 52 new cases (April 1) and as large as 102 new cases (April 7).
March 31: 73 new cases
April 1: 52 new cases
April 2: 66 new cases
April 3: 85 new cases
April 4: 87 new cases
April 5: 83 new cases
April 6: 78 new cases
April 7: 102 new cases
April 8: 97 new cases
According to the governor, “the number that gives us a lot of hope” is IDPH statistic regarding Iowans who have recovered from COVID-19. Reynolds said 431 people, or 38 percent of those who have tested positive, are now considered recovered.
At Tuesday’s press conference, IDPH Deputy Director Sarah Reisetter was asked how the department determines if someone should be listed as recovered.
“We’re not doing test-based recovery due to our limited number of tests that we do have available,” she explained. “So, what we would consider to be somebody who’s a recovered case is somebody who has self-isolated for at least seven days after the start of symptoms onset, and then for at least another three days the resolution of their fever or their other symptoms.”
On Wednesday, Reisetter said the state’s limited testing capability will also decrease the accuracy of projections of the virus’s spread in Iowa.
“One of the things I think we all recognize, and we’ve talked about it at these press conferences, is some of the projections will be difficult to make because we have had a limited number of tests, limited number of testing capacity,” she said. “And that is something that we continue to work on every single day, in terms of trying to increase testing capacity in the state.”
Reisetter explained during the previous day’s press conference that IDPH is “working on modeling, and we’re looking at an agreement with the University of Iowa College of Public Health. We’ve been actively working to get that agreement in place.”
Reisetter said on Tuesday there is no “firm date” for when the projections and models will be ready, but “we hope to have it in the days and weeks to come.”
Reisetter was also asked about an apparent 17 percent increase in recent IDPH reports of the number of COVID-19 patients who have been hospitalized. She said the increase reflects “a difference in the way that data is being collected.”
“Previously, we had been asking local public health agencies to follow up with patients to determine hospitalization status,” she said. “Over the course of the weekend, we put out a new mandatory reporting order and we’re asking hospitals to report that information to us directly.”
Reisetter called the new reporting system “better and more accurate.”
She also addressed another question regarding IDPH statistics. The department defines an “outbreak” at long-term care facilities as three or more residents testing positive for COVID-19. The state of Minnesota, by contrast, considers a long-term care facility to have an outbreak of the virus if any resident, staff member or contract worker tests positive.
According to Reisetter, IDPH requires evidence of virus spread within the facility before it considers the situation to be an outbreak. That’s why three positive tests of residents are needed.
That means, for example, that neither long-term care facility in Johnson County currently reporting cases of COVID-19 shows up in IDPH reports as having an outbreak.
On Monday, the Press-Citizen reported the Bickford Senior Living center in Iowa City said one of its residents had tested positive for COVID-19; since then, the center has reported a second case. Legacy Dial Senior Living in Iowa City has also said that a staff member has tested positive for the virus.
Under Minnesota’s reporting rules, both facilities would be listed as having an outbreak. In Iowa, neither qualifies.
During her prepared remarks on Wednesday, Gov. Reynolds stressed she and her administration “remain intently focused on our mitigation plans” for COVID-19.
“But we’re also looking ahead to ensure the health of our economy,” the governor said. “In the weeks to come, as we see our rates of positive cases and hospitalizations decrease over time, we’ll begin dialing up our economic response efforts. Currently we’re leveraging state and federal assistance to provide much needed relief to Iowa workers and businesses now and to help get them through this challenging time, until we are fully open for business again.”
“Two weeks ago, we announced the Small Business Relief Program, a one-stop shop for Iowa businesses to seek assistance, tax deferrals and grants, to assist with short-term cash-flow needs,” Reynolds said.
If a small business’ application for a deferral of retail sale and withholding taxes is approved by the Iowa Department of Revenue, the business’s owner can pay those taxes up to 60 days after they are due without incurring a penalty or having to pay interest.
According to Reynolds, more than 5,700 small businesses have applied for the deferral program so far. Applications for the program will be taken through the end of April.
The grant program, which is run by the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), provides grants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 to businesses with between two and 25 employees that have been affected by COVID-19.
Reynolds said at the press conference the grant program had received almost 14,000 applications requesting more than $148 million in assistance.
When the governor announced the grant program on March 23, she provided $4 million from the emergency funds the Iowa legislature provided for COVID-19-related needs. On Wednesday, Reynolds said she was providing another $24 million from the emergency funds to the program.
Reynolds said plans call for further funds to come from a block grant from the federal government included in the CARES Act passed by Congress on March 30.
“Iowa will be getting $1.25 billion in a block grant,” Reynolds said. But the federal guidelines on how the grant money can be spent will be not provided until sometime next week, she added.
Still, notifications of the first round of grants awards has been sent out to successful applicants, the governor said. According to Reynolds, “the first round of funding will assist more than 500 restaurants, bars, breweries that have been impacted by COVID-19.”
At Wednesday’s press conference, Reynolds asked IEDA Director Debi Durham to provide some details about the grant program.
Durham said IEDA has received at least 15 grant applications from each of Iowa’s 99 counties.
“The initial round of funding totaled more than $10 million, with grants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000,” the director said.
“This program was designed to be short-term, stop-gap funding until our federal resources became identified or available,” Durham said.
The program may be superseded by other programs funded by the CARES Act.
“Eligible applicants that do not receive a notification this week will be considered for potential funding rounds in the future,” Durham said. “But a new application will not be opened.”
“I do encourage, however, that all Iowa business owners that have been impacted by COVID-19 to visit iowabusinessrecovery.com for information about all programs and resources that we may, or other agencies will, have available that touch on business relief,” she added.
Four hours after the press conference concluded on Wednesday, the governor’s office sent out a press release announcing Reynolds had “signed a proclamation declaring Thursday, April 9th as a ‘Day of Prayer’ in Iowa, urging Iowans to ‘unite in prayer’ in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, inviting Iowans to participate in the 59th Annual Iowa Prayer Breakfast, which is offered entirely online this year.”
“Let us join together and pray for our neighbors, communities and state,” the governor said, according to the press release.
