The Iowa Department of Public Health has been misreporting COVID-19 test data for months due to a problem in its data management system. The error in the system has caused thousands of positive test results to be incorrectly backdated and reported as happening months earlier, according to a review of data published by IDPH. This […]
Test Iowa
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Test Iowa site in Cedar Rapids reopens
The Test Iowa site in Cedar Rapids reopened Wednesday afternoon, after temporarily closing due to damage from Monday’s derecho. Sites in Davenport and Marshalltown that closed because of the storm have also reopened for testing. The three sites had limited hours on Wednesday but will return to regular hours — 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. […]
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‘Iowans deserve access to the truth’: Rep. Loebsack inquires why IDPH underreported a Tyson plant outbreak; 469 new COVID-19 cases confirmed
The Iowa Department of Public Health reported another 469 people were confirmed as having COVID-19 during the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. on Monday. The new cases increase the total number of Iowans who have tested positive to 42,485. The newly confirmed cases were part of the 4,403 test results reported by IDPH between […]
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COVID-19: Iowa’s death toll passes 800; Rep. Finkenauer wants to know why testing has been cut in Dubuque
Iowa’s official COVID-19 death toll passed 800 on Wednesday, as the Iowa Department of Public Health reported another 10 people had died from the virus. The newly reported deaths bring the total number of Iowans killed by COVID-19 to 808. IDPH also reported another 374 Iowans tested positive for the virus during the 24-hour period […]
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COVID-19: Another 512 Iowans test positive; the governor orders limits testing at Dubuque’s Test Iowa site
The Iowa Department of Public Health reported on Tuesday that another 512 Iowans had tested positive for COVID-19 during the 24-hour period ending at 10 a.m. The new cases bring the total number of people who have tested positive for the virus to 39,419. The department also reported another five deaths between 10 a.m. on […]
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Almost 40 days after Test Iowa opened its first site, the state has now hit its daily testing goal for the second time
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced on Tuesday the state met its goal of processing 5,000 tests a day on both Saturday and Monday. When Reynolds announced the creation of Test Iowa in April, she said the testing it would perform would give the state a 5,000-test-a-day capacity. The governor has repeatedly used that capacity as a […]
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Two lawmakers call for an oversight committee investigation of Test Iowa, as the Iowa legislature prepares to reconvene
When the Iowa legislature reconvenes this week, the House of Representatives’ Government Oversight Committee will have to consider a request from two lawmakers to investigate Test Iowa. The legislature suspended its 2020 session on March 16 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers will return to the capitol on Wednesday, June 3 to complete work left […]
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Some counties see sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, but Iowa’s top health official ‘continues to be fine with what we’re seeing,’ Gov. Reynolds says
Despite sharp increases in COVID-19 case numbers in some parts of central and western Iowa — Wright County went from 25 cases last week to 124 by Wednesday morning, and the Iowa Department of Public Health has reported more than 400 new cases in Buena Vista County since Tuesday — IDPH Medical Director Dr. Caitlin […]
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Linn County supervisors extend telework policy for county employees, discuss employee testing and Test Iowa
As the state continues to reopen, Linn County officials are thinking about ways to protect their employees, including extending telework policies and looking into testing county employees for COVID-19. Most county buildings are closed to the general public through June 15. Earlier this month, the Board of Supervisors discussed installing Plexiglas barriers and signs on […]
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As problems pile up, Gov. Reynolds brushes off questions about Test Iowa: ‘This is one tool in the toolbox’
For the second day in a row, Gov. Kim Reynolds assured Iowans that Test Iowa will now schedule a COVID-19 test for anyone who wants one. But as reporters explained to the governor at her press conference on Friday, that is not the case. Monica Madden of WHO-TV told Reynolds she had filled out a […]
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Gov. Reynolds opens up Test Iowa testing to all, criticizes reporters for focusing too much on testing
Gov. Kim Reynolds started her press conference on Thursday by boasting about the amount of COVID-19 testing being done in Iowa, and announcing the Test Iowa program will soon begin testing anyone who wants a test. Before the press conference was over, she was complaining that reporters are too “hung up on testing.” Reynolds also […]
Posted inCOVID-19
Cedar Rapids doctor is ‘cautiously optimistic’ about the low number of COVID-19 patients at Mercy; Test Iowa’s Linn County site continues to underperform
Dr. Tony Myers of Mercy Medical Center said he is “cautiously optimistic” about the lower number of COVID-19 patients in the Cedar Rapids hospital. During Wednesday’s Linn County Public Health press conference, Myers said there are four patients with COVID-19 in the intensive care unit and two of them are on ventilators. During the last […]
