Gov. Kim Reynolds announced on Wednesday that Iowa is suing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to stop the requirement that all workers at healthcare facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid be vaccinated against COVID-19. The action came just six days after the governor said the state would take “immediate legal action” to stop […]
Iowa Department of Public Health
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Gov. Reynolds says Iowa will sue to stop federal vaccine requirements; more than 7,000 Iowans have died of COVID, IDPH says
Iowa “will take immediate legal action to challenge” new workplace standards on COVID-19 vaccinations issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Thursday, Gov. Kim Reynolds said. In a written statement after OSHA published the new standards, Reynolds called the effort to increase vaccination rates and protect workers in congregate settings from being exposed […]
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Roughly two out of five COVID-19 deaths in Iowa were preventable, former UI Public Health dean postulates
The Iowa Department of Public Health reported another 117 deaths from COVID-19 in its weekly update on Wednesday, increasing the state’s pandemic death toll to 6,965. The number of deaths from the virus reported by IDPH has increased in every weekly update in October. “It is instructive to compare Iowa and Minnesota, which have nearly […]
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Experts highlight importance of masks in schools; Gov. Reynolds says she’ll sue to stop any vaccine mandates
In the next issue of Pediatrics, a journal published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, medical experts from Children’s National Hospital in Washington D.C., the George Washington University and Johns Hopkins University write that attempts by the states, including Iowa, to ban the use of masks in schools undermines public health efforts to contain COVID-19 […]
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COVID-19: Reynolds talks about banning vaccine mandates and suing the Biden administration; IDPH reports 94 more deaths, 8,167 new cases
During a phone interview on a conservative talk radio show on Wednesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds said she’s “continuing to have good conversations with the legislature” about passing a bill banning any kind of COVID-19 vaccine mandate during its upcoming special session. That session, scheduled for Oct. 28, has been called to consider the second set […]
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COVID-19: More than 9,800 new cases reported; anti-vaxxers rally at the Iowa State Capitol
After three weeks of reporting over 10,000 new cases in each of its weekly COVID-19 updates, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported 9,860 newly confirmed cases of the virus. Although it was it was a decline from the previous update’s total of 10,812 new cases, it also marked the seventh week with a rate […]
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Medical cannabis dispensary opens in Iowa City
Iowa Cannabis Co. opened a medical cannabidiol dispensary in Iowa City on Friday. The dispensary, located at 382 Highway 1 W in part of the building that was home to Paul’s Discount, is one of two located in eastern Iowa. The other eastern Iowa dispensary is in Waterloo and is also owned by Iowa Cannabis […]
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Iowa City mask mandate extended, as state reports more than 10,000 new COVID cases and 81 deaths
Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague issued an order on Wednesday extending the city’s mask mandate that has been in place since Aug. 19. The new order doesn’t have an expiration date as the previous one did and “shall remain in effect until it is rescinded.” When he first issued the mandate, the mayor explained, “The […]
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New Iowa Poll finds majority approve of Gov. Reynolds’ overall handling of pandemic, but disapprove of her mask and vaccine policies
A majority of Iowans approve of Gov. Kim Reynolds’ overall handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they also disapprove of the governor’s actions on face masks and vaccines. Those seemingly contradictory results are included in the latest Iowa Poll published by the Des Moines Register. According to the survey of 805 Iowans, all 18 and […]
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COVID-19 hospitalizations hit a new high for the year, as more than 12,000 new cases and 81 deaths reported
Iowa set a record for hospitalized COVID-19 patients in 2021, as the rate of new cases continued to surge this month. In its weekly update on Wednesday, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported another 82 deaths from the virus and 12,163 newly confirmed cases during its seven-day reporting period. That’s an increase of 440 […]
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Dr. Caitlin Pedati, who has guided Iowa’s COVID-19 response, is leaving her job as IDPH medical director
Dr. Caitlin Pedati, medical director of the Iowa Department of Public Health and the state’s epidemiologist, will be leaving her position in “late October,” the department announced in a news release on Wednesday. According to IDPH, “Dr. Pedati plans to pursue new career opportunities.” Pedati has held her current job since June 2018, but didn’t […]
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COVID-19: Almost 12,000 new cases, 64 more deaths; UI’s ‘few protections’ get national attention
In its weekly update on Wednesday, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported another 11,723 confirmed cases of COVID-19, a 39 percent increase from the 8,408 new cases during the previous seven-day reporting period. The rate of new cases in this latest update is the highest the state has experienced since Jan. 11. For the […]
