Iowa’s senior senator, Charles Grassley, has announced that he has been exposed to coronavirus. He is quarantining and is feeling well. The 87-year-old New Hartford Republican has not missed a vote in the U.S. Senate since the fall of 1993, but that streak may end today when the Senate votes on a nominee to the Federal Reserve Board.
Officials say a 7-year-old boy has died after being hit by a vehicle in a central Iowa school parking lot. The accident happened around 3:45 p.m. Monday (yesterday) in the parking lot of Woodward-Granger High School in Dallas County. The Iowa State Patrol says the child walked into the path of the vehicle and was run over. Medics and Dallas County Sheriff’s deputies responded and found the child dead at the scene. Officials have not released the names of the child or the 47-year-old driver from Perry.
With Iowa hospitals filling up and schools closing classrooms, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds last night signed a proclamation requiring everyone age 2 or older to wear masks when in indoor public spaces; this does not include schools. Reynolds also limited many indoor gatherings to no more than 15 people and outdoor gatherings to 30, including family get-togethers. Bars and restaurants cannot stay open for in-person service past 10 p.m. And the governor suspended all youth and adult sports and recreational activities, except for high school, college and professional sports.
Iowa has surpassed 2,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus, as the number of residents succumbing to the virus continues to rapidly increase. Iowa marked 1,000 deaths from the virus on Aug. 19, five months into the pandemic. But it took less than three months for the state to reach 2,000 deaths, and 3,000 will be reached far quicker under current trends. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the state has been averaging more than 20 deaths per day over the last week. That’s triple the rate from just two months ago.
