The Iowa Department of Public Health announced on Thursday 302 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 14 new deaths, including three in Linn County. These new numbers bring the total confirmed cases in Iowa to 7,145 and 162 deaths. An additional outbreak has been reported at a long term care facility. Six confirmed cases reported at Westbrook Acres in Tama County. This brings the total of long term care facilities in the state with outbreaks to 24.
One of those is the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown. Cedar Valley state senator Bill Dotzler was critical of the facility’s efforts to protect veterans in a conversation yesterday with KXEL’s Tim Harwood. You can hear the full interview by going to the podcast page of kxel.com.
A 14 year-old is facing burglary and theft charges after setting off an alarm at the BP gas station on 1st Ave. NE. in Cedar Rapids early Thursday morning. Investigators who arrived at the gas station found a broken window. Officers checking the area located and captured the suspect after a short foot pursuit. The teen is also charged with interference and criminal mischief.
First-time and continuing unemployment claims are both rising again over the past week in Iowa. Iowa Workforce Development reports 28,827 new first-time claims last week. That’s 2,635 more than the week before. There are now 170,990 continuing claims in the state.
While 77 of Iowa’s counties are opening back up today, 22 are not…including Linn County…Cedar Rapids Mayor Brad Hart yesterday said he understood the stress of citizens being asked to isolate but urged them to continue staying at home.
The University of Northern Iowa athletics department announced that athletics director David Harris, as well as the head coaches of UNI’s five ticketed sports–football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball and wrestling–will take a voluntary 10% salary reduction for May and June, the end of the current fiscal year. The pay cut will help the athletics department reduce a deficit created by a decrease in revenue due to sports cancellations. UNI athletics is considering additional cost-saving measures for the fiscal year beginning July 1; those decisions will be announced at a later date.
A number of inmates and staff at the Iowa Medical Classification Center Correctional Facility in Coralville have tested positive for the coronavirus. Latest data shows a total of 15 inmates testing positive, along with five staff members. The facility is the intake center for the entire Iowa prison system.
We told you previously that the Federal Aviation Administration is reducing its air traffic control tower hours of operation at the Waterloo Regional Airport beginning Friday…from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., as opposed to 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. as in the past. Contrary to rumors in the community, again, this is solely due to reduced passenger traffic due to COVID-19, and is not part of any plan to permanently close Waterloo’s air traffic control tower.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says testing for the coronavirus in the new TestIowa program will be reliable and accurate once the machines Iowa bought for the program are validated and set up. Questions have been raised about the accuracy of tests used by the state of Utah, provided by the same company Iowa bought tests and equipment from earlier this month as part of a $26 million contract. Reynolds says the State Hygienic Laboratory in Iowa City has significant expertise in such testing and is validating the machines provided…and that she’s confident the FDA approved testing system will prove to be accurate.
Police in central Iowa have arrested a woman they say called 911 to report she had shot and killed her husband days earlier. 69-year-old Carol Ann Davis of New Sharon called police Wednesday morning to report she had killed her husband at their home on Sunday. Deputies who later arrived at the home found 55-year-old Steve Davis dead with a gunshot wound to his head. Carol Ann Davis told investigators that she shot her husband in his sleep after he complained of issues at work and asked her to shoot him once he fell asleep. She’s being held on $1 million bond.
