Black Hawk County became the first county to have more than 600 confirmed cases of COVID-19, that was announced at yesterday’s county news briefing; the county total is now 622, with 90 percent of them tied to the Tyson plant in Waterloo. There have been 7 confirmed deaths in Black Hawk County out of a statewide total of 96.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Linn County has increased to 500. An interesting point, of that 500 in Linn County, there are more cases of adults aged 18 to 40 than any other age group…187…compared with those aged 61 to 80, a group with 99 confirmed cases.
One week ago, the governor announced that Iowa schools would not reopen yet this academic year. Waterloo school superintendent Dr. Jane Lindaman talked about the future, a time when schools might reopen for face-to-face learning, during yesterday’s county media briefing.
U.S. ag secretary Sonny Perdue told a meeting of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission ag advisory committee yesterday that direct payments to farmers under the $19 billion package announced last Friday could come by the end of May, and commodity purchases under the plan could begin within two weeks.
Nearly 28,000 more people filed initial unemployment claims last week in Iowa as the state’s economy continued to take a hit from efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Iowa Workforce Development reported Thursday that another 27,912 people filed unemployment claims during the week ending April 18. That’s down from claims filed in previous weeks but still far above typical numbers before many businesses closed to fight COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. There were 151,846 continuing unemployment claims. Nationally, more than 4.4 million workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, In the last five weeks, about 26 million people have now filed for jobless aid.
The Iowa Department of Public Health announced on Thursday 176 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Iowa and six additional deaths. That makes the totals 3,924 confirmed cases and 96 deaths in the state. The new deaths occurred in Bremer, Muscatine and Polk County. Another outbreak has occurred at a long term care facility. ManorCare Health Services in Linn County has 7 people who were confirmed to have the virus. That brings the total of long term care facilities in Iowa with COVID-19 outbreaks to 12.
The Tyson packing plant in Waterloo is still closed due to an extensive outbreak of COVID-19…something Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart told KXEL News yesterday could well have been prevented. You can hear the full interview with Mayor Hart by going to the podcast page of KXEL.com.
Some 2,800 workers at the Tyson plant in Waterloo are off work, with testing of all employees to take place yet this week. While Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart publicly called for the plant to be closed when the COVID-19 outbreak became known, he said yesterday on KXEL Live & Local that the priority now is how to get the plant to reopen safely as soon as possible. You can hear the full interview with Mayor Hart by going to the podcast page of KXEL.com.
Omega Cabinetry in Waterloo will close until May 4th. Officials with Omega’s parent company, MasterBrand, confirmed Thursday morning, one employee has been diagnosed with Covid-19. Employees are being furloughed without pay, but the company will pay for both the employee’s and company’s share of health insurance for up to two weeks. Around 800 employees are affected.
Bertch Cabinet Manufacturing in Waterloo kept about 700 employees home this week out of an abundance of caution. They plan to reopen Monday. Owner Gary Bertch told media outlets the company experienced a reduction in production volume, and anticipated this week would be a peak week for the pandemic.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says the state’s $26 million contract with Utah companies to increase coronavirus testing was developed after she got unsolicited advice from the actor Ashton Kutcher. Reynolds says she recently called Kutcher, an Iowa native known for starring in movies and television shows, to ask whether he would record a public service announcement. She said Kutcher asked whether she was familiar with a Utah program launched this month to increase testing that looked promising. Kutcher had a friend involved in one of the companies participating, and offered to connect them. Reynolds said that she spoke with Kutcher’s connection, and her aides followed up with Utah government officials. TestIowa was launched on Tuesday.
