DES MOINES, Iowa (KMTV) — On Friday, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds' office released a statement saying the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) was "notified of 118 additional positive cases for a total of 1,388 positive cases" and two additional deaths.
Both deaths occurred in Linn County and were adults older than 61 years of age.
Reynolds provided an update on the state’s response efforts during her daily press conference.
Reynolds urges Iowans to continue to practice social distancing and good hygiene practices throughout the state and says it’s working.
She also addressed a shortage in personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers and said she is looking at other outlets to fulfill the state’s needs, especially now that doctors and nurses are getting infected with the virus.
“It is just a constant effort. Hospitals are ordering through their distributors, homeland security is ordering,” she said. “Our local public health officials are gathering information and putting orders in. We continue to say over and over it's an all of the above approach and so we continue to look at every available opportunity to bring PPE into the state.”
If Iowa reaches crisis capacity, healthcare workers will have to start using PPE past its shelf life, prioritizing face masks for interactions that may involve direct contact with infectious patients and using homemade masks in conjunction with face shields.
The IDPH provided the following information the new cases:
- Allamakee County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60)
- Black Hawk County, 6 adults (18-40 years), 7 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
- Cedar County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
- Clarke County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
- Clayton County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
- Clinton County, 2 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
- Dubuque County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
- Fayette County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
- Harrison County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
- Henry County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
- Jasper County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
- Johnson County, 1 child (0-17 years), 5 adults (18-40 years), 6 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 2 older adults (61-80 years)
- Linn County, 3 adults (18-40 years), 4 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 2 older adults (61-80 years), 1 elderly adult (81+)
- Louisa County, 5 adults (18-40 years), 6 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 3 older adults (61-80 years)
- Marshall County, 2 adults (41-60 years)
- Mills County one adult 41-60 years of age
- Muscatine County, 2 adults (18-40 years), 8 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
- Osceola County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
- Polk County, 6 adults (18-40 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
- Pottawattamie County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
- Scott County, 3 adults (18-40 years), 6 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years, 1 elderly adult (81+)
- Tama County, 4 adults (18-40 years), 3 middle-age adults (41-60 years)
- Union County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
- Wapello County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
- Warren County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
- Washington County, 2 adults (18-40 years), 2 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
- Winnebago County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
- Woodbury County, 3 middle-age adults (41-60 years)
862 negative cases were also reported for a total of 14,565 negative tests to date.