Iowa’s governor and medical director met with the president and other officials at the White House last Wednesday, and hosted the vice president in Iowa last Friday. Now Gov. Kim Reynolds may self isolate in the wake of news that various White House staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. White House officials have been in contact with Iowa officials about the situation. Iowa state medical director, Dr. Caitlin Pedati, who was in the coronavirus task force meeting Wednesday with Vice President Mike Pence’s staff, is self isolating…as are multiple members of the task force. The vice president announced Sunday afternoon he will be at work at the White House today.
The U.S. Justice Department announced last week it was dropping charges against former National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn, a move applauded by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley of New Hartford…he told the Fox News Channel the decision doesn’t just deliver justice to one individual. Sen. Grassley had made inquiry by letter to the Justice Department about its handling of the case, and he credits acting Director of National Intelligence Rick Grenell with getting the full information out to the public.
State health officials said yesterday 13 more people with COVID-19 died in the previous day to give the state a total of 265 deaths. Two of those latest deaths were in Black Hawk County, which now has 26 deaths due to the virus, according to health officials. The county has three long-term care facilities with outbreaks, according to the state — Friendship Village, Harmony House and NewAldaya Lifescapes in Cedar Falls.
The Iowa Department of Public Health said yesterday the number of coronavirus infections in the state grew by 287 to a total of 11,959 cases of COVID-19. The number of confirmed cases in Black Hawk County rose by 23 on Sunday, bringing the total to 1,754.
Health officials in Floyd County have confirmed that county’s first death related to the coronavirus…the individual was an elderly adult, above age 80. Floyd County was one of the last counties in northeast Iowa to report a positive test of the virus.
Iowan and former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker made an appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Cavuto Live” Saturday morning, and explained why he felt it was appropriate for charges against former National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn to be dismissed, as “the fruit from a poisonous tree”. Flynn had pleaded guilty to lying to the F-B-I about information regarding a conversation he had with the former Russian ambassador. He had been trying to withdraw that plea before the Justice Department indicated it would be dropping the charges.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Saturday that Iowa is one of six more states that will receive an allocation of the coronavirus drug remdesivir. The producer of the drug, Gilead Sciences, Inc., is donating it to the United States government. They estimate they’ll be able to treat 78,000 COVID-19 patients. Cases were distributed to seven other states earlier. The FDA allowed the emergency use of remdesivir for COVID-19 in patients in the hospital after a study found it can shorten recovery time by 31 percent.
An Iowa turkey plant that is the site of a coronavirus outbreak said Friday that hundreds of employees will be furloughed this fall due to the nation’s economic collapse. West Liberty Foods says roughly one-third of its 994 employees will be laid off for months, likely from from November through February. The company also confirmed Friday that 136 employees have tested positive for coronavirus, after mass testing at the West Liberty plant last week.
Authorities in Illinois say an Iowa man charged in various 1990s serial killings “does not appear to have been involved” in the unsolved 1992 killing of a college student. The Illinois State Police says Clark Perry Baldwin is not a suspect in the death of 21-year-old Grinnell College student Tammy Zywicki. Its statement appeared to rule out what had seemed to be a promising lead in the case of Zywicki, who was abducted after experiencing car troubles on Interstate 80 near La Salle, Illinois in 1992. Police arrested Baldwin, a former truck driver, at his home in Waterloo on Wednesday. He’s charged in the deaths of three woman from the early 1990s.
St. Jude Church in Cedar Rapids announced yesterday it will cancel this year’s Sweet Corn Festival due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. No other details were released, but organizers promising the festival will return in August 2021.
