Governor Kim Reynolds.
The deaths of 29 Iowans are now attributed to COVID-19.
Governor Kim Reynolds announced this morning that two older adults from Linn County died of the virus yesterday. The governor said there are 17 patients on ventilators in the northeast Iowa region where Linn County is located.
“Iowa’s capacity to care for COVID-19 patients and available resources are very good at this time,” Reynolds said.
State records show testing has identified 1270 positive cases of COVID-19 in Iowa, including 125 in the past day. That’s the largest one day total for the state. The governor and her public health advisers have indicated case counts would continue to grow this week.
“If we all just, again, dig deep and practice and do what we’ve asked you to do, we will continue to see the curve flatten,” Reynolds said. “We will start to see the numbers drop and we will start to talk about how we dial back up this economy and how we start to open things back up instead of talking about how we close things down.”
Asked at her daily news conference if she’s recommending Iowans wear face masks in public, Reynolds said Iowans making essential trips to the grocery, pharmacy or exercising outdoors should take a mask or some sort of face covering with them in case they need it.