This week will be the last chance to get free rapid COVID-19 tests from the federal government. The program the Biden administration launched in January, using the post office to deliver the at-home test kits at no cost, will stop taking orders on Friday. “Ordering through this program will be suspended on Friday, September 2 […]
Test Iowa
Posted inCommunity/News
Record number of Iowans test positive for COVID; Gov. Reynolds says cases are undercounted, but doesn’t think state needs to reopen test sites
In its weekly COVID-19 update on Wednesday, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported the highest number of new cases of the virus during a seven-day period since the first cases were discovered in the state in March 2020. According to IDPH, another 38,574 Iowans tested positive from Jan. 12-18. But in an interview with […]
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Drive-through COVID-19 test site opens in North Liberty
Free rapid antigen testing and PCR testing are available through a new drive-through COVID-19 test site set up by the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) at Liberty High School in North Liberty. “There are no out-of-pocket costs, but those with insurance are asked to bring their insurance card,” the district said in a statement […]
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Free rapid COVID-19 tests will be available starting Jan. 19
Starting next week, the federal government will begin distributing free COVID-19 rapid tests through a new website, covidtests.gov. The site will launch on Wednesday, Jan. 19, and “tests will typically ship within 7-12 days of ordering,” according to a written statement published by the White House on Friday. The tests are free and so is […]
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Free at-home COVID-19 test kits now available at Iowa City Hall, Linn County Public Health
Free at-home COVID-19 test kits are now available at City Hall, Iowa City announced on Wednesday morning. These testing kits will be available from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, according to a news release from the city. “The kits are supplied to the City by Johnson County Public Health and will be […]
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Iowa Department of Public Health sued for failing to produce public records related to Test Iowa
The Iowa Department Public Health is being sued for not complying with the state’s Open Records Act by failing to produce documents on Test Iowa requested by a Utah attorney. In her lawsuit filed in Polk County District Court on Thursday, Attorney Suzette Rasmussen of Draper, Utah, asked the court to compel IDPH to produce […]
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Free DIY COVID-19 test kits now available
The last Test Iowa sites closed down on Friday, as the Iowa Department of Public Health ceased using drive-through test sites and started relying on at-home test kits to monitor the spread of COVID-19 in the state. Like the drive-through testing, the at-home testing program, which IDPH is doing in partnership with the State Hygienic […]
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Iowa Department of Public Health signed a $1.58 million deal with GOP-connected contact tracing company
With no public announcement, the Iowa Department of Public Health approved in January a contract extension for a company with ties to the Iowa Republican Party that the department hired in November to provide COVID-19 contact tracing assistance, Ryan Foley of the Associated Press reported on Friday. The three-month extension will pay MCI $1.58 million. […]
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COVID-19: Iowa has another day of more than 4,000 new cases; Gov. Reynolds defends her record fighting the virus
Iowa had its sixth consecutive day with more than 4,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. During the 24-period ending at 10 a.m., the Iowa Department of Public Health reported 4,337 more confirmed cases of the virus in the state. Among those new cases were 164 residents of Johnson County and 375 residents of Linn […]
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COVID-19: Iowa has more than 1,000 hospitalized patients, Linn County sets a new one-day record and the outbreak in Iowa prisons gets worse
It took Iowa 226 days to reach 500 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, but it only took 20 days to go from 500 to 1,000 patients. On Monday morning, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported 1,034 COVID-19 patients in the state’s hospitals. A total of 184 of those patients were being treated in intensive care units. […]
Posted inCommunity/News, COVID-19
Test Iowa site in Cedar Rapids is moving to a new location
Linn County’s Test Iowa site in Cedar Rapids will be at a different location staring on Monday morning. The site, which has been operating since early May, is currently at the Department of Transportation’s District 6 office. It will close after testing concludes at 6 p.m. on Friday. The site will reopen on Monday at […]
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Iowa’s COVID-19 death toll surpasses 1,000 as problems with data reporting continue
COVID-19 has now killed more than 1,000 Iowans, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, IDPH reported another 16 deaths from the virus, bringing the state’s COVID-19 death toll to 1,003. The grim milestone comes just days after an IDPH official confirmed the data management system the state uses […]
