IDPH map showing Black Hawk County cases as of Sunday.
Local public health officials say one-fifth of the state’s confirmed COVID-19 cases are in Black Hawk County and more than 90 percent of the county’s cases are connected to the Tyson pork processing plant in Waterloo.
Dr. Mathew Sojka, the chief medical officer for Mercy One in Waterloo, said it’s a scary time.
“We don’t know if another surge is going to occur,” he said during a news conference. “I’m very nervous about that with seeing the numbers in the community increase like they have over the last week.”
Dr. Sharon Duclos, medical director at People’s Community Health Clinic in Waterloo, said health care workers are going through an emotional roller coaster.
“It’s hard because you start to go through the grief of realizing, again, this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” she said, through tears, adding that her greatest fear is a member of her staff will contract the virus.
Black Hawk County public health officials say one percent of the county’s population has tested positive for the coronavirus. Eleven residents of Black Hawk County have died of the virus.
(By Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio, Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson also contributed to this story.)