On Thursday, Iowa saw its biggest one-day increase in the number of COVID-19 cases since June 4. As of 10 a.m., the Iowa Department of Public Health was reporting another 676 Iowans had tested positive for the virus during the previous 24 hours. That is the fourth-highest one-day total the state has had since COVID-19 was first confirmed in Iowa on March 8.
The new cases bring the state’s total to 29,966. According to IDPH, no new deaths from the virus were reported since 10 a.m. on Wednesday. The state’s death toll from COVID-19 stands at 717.
The surge of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Johnson County continued for the 16th consecutive day, with IDPH reporting 46 news cases as of 10 a.m. on Thursday. Linn County had 21 new cases, according to the department.
IDPH is reporting 23,757 of the Iowans have who tested positive for COVID-19 are now considered recovered, including 708 residents of Johnson County. But during a press conference on Tuesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the department has changed the way it defines “recovered.” As of this week, unless IDPH is informed otherwise, anyone who tests positive for the virus will be considered recovered after 28 days.
The change was made Monday night, and overnight it boosted the percentage of Iowans considered recovered by IDPH from 62 percent to almost 80 percent.
At that press conference, Reynolds was also asked if she planned to close businesses, or at least bars and restaurants, if the state has a spike in new cases.
“Well, again, I want to give a shout-out to our businesses across the state,” the governor replied. “I think they’re acting responsibly and appropriately.”
Reynolds never directly answered the question, but the answer appears to be no. The governor repeated her familiar response to such a question by saying she believes it should be up to individual Iowans to make their own decisions.
“What I love about the system that we’ve put in place — that Test Iowa has allowed us to do — is we are able to provide a lot of information for businesses and for Iowans, and they can take that information, and be responsible and make decisions about how they move forward,” she said.
