Big meatpacking companies that have struggled to keep plants open during the coronavirus crisis say they welcome President Trump’s executive order that plants must remain open. But unions, some employees and Democrats raised questions about whether workers could be kept safe. Trump has used the Defense Production Act to classify meat processors as critical infrastructure to try to prevent supermarket shelves from running out. Some employees and unions say the president’s order was not enough. They are calling on authorities to ensure social distancing in plants and to offer greater protections such as priority access to testing and protective equipment.
Furniture maker Flexsteel Industries says it will permanently close its Dubuque manufacturing facility. The company announced the closure yesterday morning, minutes before a conference call to discuss its latest quarterly earnings. The Dubuque plant employs about 150 people. The company announced its facility in Starkville, Mississippi, also will close, and blamed a drop in demand of some products that has been made worse by the coronavirus pandemic.
The second drive-through testing site for Test Iowa opened yesterday at Crossroads in Waterloo…the tent will be open from noon to 6 p.m. today, then fully operational starting tomorrow from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Next week, sites in Woodbury and Scott Counties are scheduled to open. Cedar Rapids will be the host for a site starting May 11th, to be located at the Kirkwood Driving School. The state’s first site opened in Des Moines last weekend. So far 229,000 Iowans have taken online TestIowa assessment. Black Hawk, Linn and Johnson Counties were among the top counties whose residents filled out the assessments.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is defending her actions to open restaurants and other businesses in a majority of Iowa counties with few coronavirus cases. Reynolds says University of Iowa professors who said reopening business now could cause a second wave of infections were presenting a model that was a snapshot in time. She says improved testing and mitigation efforts have successfully prevented hospitals from being overwhelmed. Health officials reported 467 new cases Wednesday for a total of more than 6,800 in Iowa. An additional 12 people died, increasing the total to 148 deaths…one of those was in Black Hawk County, four were in Linn County.
The Iowa Legislative Council has voted unanimously to continue suspension of the legislative session until at least May 15. Republican leaders faced questions from Democrats about the criteria they’re using to evaluate whether it’s safe to come back to the Iowa Capitol. Leaders say they are talking with the governor and state health officials to ensure it is safe.
An employee of Summit Food Services, the company that prepares the inmate meals at the Black Hawk County Jail, has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus and has been quarantined pursuant to corporate policy as well as Sheriff’s Office policy. The employee’s roommate works at Tyson Foods and had previously tested positive for the Coronavirus. The kitchen staff has no contact with the inmate population. This is the second contractor within the jail to test positive for the Coronavirus; we told you yesterday about a nurse who tested positive, but to date there have not been any inmates or Sheriff’s Office employees who have tested positive for the virus.
A person who works at the Cedar Rapids Police Department has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Officials said yesterday that an employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. They were screened at the start of their shift, but started showing symptoms during their shift. The department said that no other employees are showing symptoms of the disease.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate yesterday announced a new statewide initiative to recruit poll workers for the June 2 primary. Normally, Iowa poll workers tend to come from age groups that are more vulnerable to COVID-19. For more information and to sign up to become a poll worker, visit pollworker.iowa.gov.
