At least fourteen residents at a Cedar Rapids nursing home that has been at the center of the coronavirus pandemic in Iowa have died. The facility’s owner said late Friday that 60 residents at Heritage Specialty Care and 30 staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. That represents roughly half the residents and a quarter of the staff at the facility. Of the 60 infected residents, the home says that 14 have recovered and another 14 had died as of Friday. A statement from the home says the “hearts, thoughts and prayers of our Heritage staff and our organization go out to the families of these special loved ones.”
The Iowa Department of Public Health yesterday afternoon confirmed 77 additional positive COVID19 cases for a total of 1,587 statewide. An additional 7 deaths were also reported, 6 of which were in Linn County…the other, in Washington County. The statewide coronavirus death toll now stands at 41. New cases reported Sunday included Black Hawk (6), Johnson (8), Linn (8). The department noted that the Sunday results do not reflect a full 24-hour cycle, as they say they are transitioning to new reporting time frames.
Iowa regulators have ordered health care providers to extend the use of their face masks, use washable gowns and shorten hospital stays for some coronavirus patients. Iowa Department of Public Health deputy director Sarah Reisetter says an emergency order directs providers on what they should do if they cannot get enough face masks, shields and gowns to provide standard care. She said if care providers face shortages, those providers are directed to use face masks that have expired, not change them for each patient encounter, use washable gowns and shorten hospital stays for coronavirus patients.
A correctional officer at a prison in Corvalville is the first Corrections Department staffer to test positive for the new coronavirus. The department announced Friday that the officer works at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center and was tested after experiencing symptoms Wednesday and Thursday. The officer sought medical help and took a test for the coronavirus, which came back positive. The officer, described as being between 18 and 40 years old, is recovering at home. The department says in a news release that officials are taking measures to limit the impact on staff and inmates. No other staff or inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.
Democrats are calling for another COVID-19 relief package that would “expand and extend” the first relief bill for all Americans. U.S. Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa slammed Democrat leadership for holding up coronavirus relief packages in both the House and Senate. Reports show there are more than 500,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U-S alone…but the numbers vary greatly from state to state. Grassley suggests that as a result some decision making should be left to states during the pandemic. Grassley made the comments during an interview on Fox’s “Neil Cavuto Live” program Saturday morning, participating by home from the family farm near New Hartford.
The Mitchell County Regional Health Center says a hospital employee has tested positive for the coronavirus. Through a Facebook post, CEO Shelly Russell says they were notified Saturday of the diagnosis. Russell says the employee does not live in Mitchell County, did not display symptoms at work, and is now recovering at home. Those who had been in close contact with the infected employee have been notified and clinics in Osage and St. Ansgar are still scheduled to open today.
A driver was seriously hurt when his car slammed into a concrete wall in Cedar Rapids. Police say it happened near the Kirkwood Recreation Center at 65 Jones View Parkway SW in Cedar Rapids just before 1:30 early yesterday morning. Investigators say the driver left the roadway, and crashed into the wall surrounding a transformer. The driver, a 21-year-old male, had to be pulled from the vehicle. His identity has not been publicly released. He was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital with serious injuries. The incident remains under investigation.
The City of Waterloo will activate the inflatable dam on the Cedar River today; officials expect the annual inflation will take two days to complete. At full inflation, the dam will raise the upstream river level by approximately four feet, allowing for more boating and river recreational activities. The dam can be lowered when river levels are high and individual sections may be lowered to clean out debris or log jams. The dam will remain inflated until October 19th, weather permitting.
