Gov. Kim Reynolds says she’s taking steps to allow elective surgeries in hospitals and open farmer’s markets beginning Monday. A total of 521 new cases were reported today, along with confirmation of 11 more people who died. That brings the state’s total of positive cases to 4,445 and deaths to 107. Reynolds said today she plans on further announcements of a phase one resumption of activity next week. She says 30% of Iowa’s positive cases are in manufacturing, which is mostly meatpacking workers. Fifteen percent are health care workers. Reynolds also put out a call for nurses to work at nursing homes as demand at the centers increase.
The city of Waterloo says that based on the Governor’s metrics, Region Six, which includes Black Hawk County, has been downgraded from ten to nine on her point scale. Based on this data, certain Waterloo public facilities will reopen to the public including golf courses, tennis courts and dog parks with the strict adherence to cleaning protocols, hygiene, and social distancing and recreational contact with household members only.
American Airlines provided notice to Waterloo Regional Airport officials that twice daily scheduled service to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport would resume on Sunday, May 3, subject to passenger demand.
Officials at the University of Iowa are investigating the Sigma Chi chapter there after the fraternity was accused of holding a party in violation of the state’s order banning gatherings of 10 or more people. The party took place March 28 with as many as 50 people and may have involved underaged drinking. Iowa City police confirmed receiving a report of a party at the Sigma Chi house, but said no officer responded to the scene.
Ethanol producer ADM says it is idling production at its corn ethanol plants in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Columbus, Nebraska, furloughing 90 employees in each facility for at least four months. The company says low consumer demand for gasoline also has dramatically cut demand for corn-based ethanol, which is blended into gasoline. The company said it is focusing on cash flow and diverting some of its resources to other products that are in higher demand, such as alcohol for hand sanitizer. The plants each have a capacity of about 300 million gallons a year, among the largest plants of their type in the nation.
