Iowans appear to be eager to be part of a pool of data about COVID-19 in the state. Gov Kim Reynolds reported at her daily news briefing that since announcing the Test Iowa initiative yesterday, 193,000 persons visited the website and 80,000 of them completed the online assessment.
The first 250 testing appointments to come from Test Iowa will be done at the Iowa Events Center (Des Moines) north parking lot. Early in the initiative priority will be given to persons who have COVID-19 symptoms, who have been exposed to someone with the illness, or have travelled to one of the “COVID hot spots” in the state.
Reynolds clarified that persons can take the assessment over if symptoms or the situation changes.
Test Iowa is the first step in understanding novel coronavirus activity in Iowa, what can be done to mitigate and manage it, and eventually be able to re-open Iowa in a “safe and responsible manner,” Reynolds said.
The first long term care “strike force” is in Tama County Wednesday and Thursday. The goal of the strike teams, according to Iowa Department of Public Health deputy director Sarah Riesetter, is to provide support for long term care facilities and their staff, and to prevent the spread of the virus.
“As we’ve seen in Iowa and other states, despite best efforts to prevent the spread of the virus after it’s detected, devastating consequences can occur if it’s detected too late,” Riesetter said. “We want to do everything we can to prevent those tragedies from happening.”
Of the 90 Iowans who have died, 45 of them lived in long term care facilities.
The strike team will test approximately 200 long term care staff and family members in Tama County. The testing is voluntary. It will allow facilities to be proactive if staff that is asymptomatic tests positive for COVID-19. Serology testing will also be provided, letting facilities know which employees currently have antibodies against the illness.
“We’ve known for several weeks that substantial spread (of COVID-19) was occurring across the state, and we’ve taken substantial mitigation efforts to slow it because we knew it wasn’t possible to stop it,” Reynolds said. “COVID-19 is part of our life. We must learn to live with it until a vaccine is available. The more we know through increased testing and contact tracing, the better we can target our response.”
Reynolds warned the number of positive cases will increase as more testing is done.
Reynolds provided contact information for the Test Iowa initiative for those who don’t have computer access. Persons can call 515-281-5211, 2-1-1, or their care provider.
Reynolds was asked during the Q & A about plans to extend the current emergency order, which expires April 30. Reynolds said she would continue to base decisions on data, but that it’s now possible to target hot spots. Testing will provide more information about those places.
“But there are a whole lot of other areas of the state that are doing really, really well,” she said. She’ll look at data for regions, counties, and even by ZIP code. “By being able to look at the data and apply the metrics at that level, we can take a look at starting to open up different areas.”
She added that 70 percent of the positive cases are in eight counties. There are 15 counties that have had no cases, and a “significant” number of counties that have 20 or fewer.
A reporter from a Carroll County newspaper asked if the low number of cases in western Iowa means there won’t be the same numbers as in eastern Iowa, or if there’s a lag involved. Reisetter of IDPH answered that community spread has been in Iowa for two months, and the low incidence in western Iowa shows that “that particular area of the state is doing a good job of staying at home and social distancing. It could be a reflection that they’re doing their part… and taking the governor’s and public health’s recommendations seriously.”
Reynolds said later that the number of inpatient beds available (4,082), the number of intensive care beds available (547), and the number of ventilators available (689) also is a reflection of “Iowans doing what they were asked to do.”
There were 107 new cases reported in the 20 hours ending April 21 at 10 am. Seven deaths were reported: two adults age 61-80 in Black Hawk County; one adult age 41-60 in Linn County; an adult age 41-60 and one age 61-80 in Muscatine County; an adult age 41-60 in Tama County; and an adult age 61-80 in Woodbury County.
More information is available at coronavirus.iowa.gov
