(Radio Iowa) — The restrictions are lifted and Iowans are able to visit their dentists again, but the experience will be quite different for most of us due to the pandemic. Dr. Jeffrey Chaffin, chief dental officer for Delta Dental of Iowa, says don’t expect to just pop in for your usual six-month check-up. “You should expect a call before you go in to the office to see whether you’ve been sick or exposed to COVID-19,” Chaffin says. “Temperature (taking) would be pretty common in most dental offices as well, and fewer people in the office, the dental waiting room is going to look different to support social distancing.”

Many dentists will also ask that only the patient comes to the office, without other family members. Most dentists and hygienists wore masks and gloves -before- coronavirus swept in, so now, they’ll be taking even more precautions. “Dentists may wear different types of masks, like the N95 masks which a lot of folks may’ve heard about which is actually a respirator, or they may use traditional masks along with a face shield,” Chaffin says. “They’ll take a little bit longer to clean up afterwards as well.”

Until there’s a vaccine for COVID-19, Chaffin says there will always be some degree of risk with any type of contact, but dentists are doing all they possibly can to insure the health of their patients. “We really suggest that while it’s safe to visit a dentist, for very high risk people, they have to look at everything they do within their lives and assess that risk,” Chaffin says. “If somebody has some type of disease and they’re really high risk, they will want to put off visiting the dentist as well as doing a lot of things that they normally would have done in the past.”

There are about 17-hundred practicing dentists in Iowa who operate out of around 25-hundred offices and many of them have already reopened. “Other offices have waited,” Chaffin says. “They had a May 18th number in their heads so they’re trying to get all the new PPE that they need and they’re training their staff on new procedures. We’re seeing some offices open last Friday, some throughout this week, but many are waiting until May 18th, next Monday.”

Most dentists in Iowa are also small businesses and Chaffin says while a few have permanently closed during the pandemic, the majority are either open now or will be soon.

Officials with Rex Pharmacy report they will offer a free, curbside COVID-19 test collection at their 1607 E 7^th Street location in Atlantic, beginning today (May 15^th).  Rex Pharmacy has partnered with the Department of Health and Human Services to provide testing to the public free of charge, to help address the COVID-19 crisis. Rex Pharmacy staff will provide extra support to area patients during COVID-19 recovery efforts with curbside test collection.

Patients can make appointments for testing at https://www.doineedacovid19test.com/Rex Pharmacy will provide appointment-based, curbside COVID-19 test collections for pre-screened individuals.

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. If individuals have a cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat or a new loss of taste or smell, they should consider testing. Updated CDC guidelines now also recommend testing for people with and without symptoms under certain conditions. Rex Pharmacy will provide testing options for eligible patients. The test is self-administered with a nasal swab and once the sample kit is sealed, staff submits the test to the lab for processing. Results are ready in three to five business days.

Officials with the Red Oak Community School District, Thursday, announced the hiring of Dr. Jane Hall Chaillie to serve as the new principal at Inman Elementary School, in Red Oak.  Chaillie will replace Gayle Allensworth who accepted a leadership position in a neighboring school district. Chaillie is a graduate of Cumberland-Massena High School. She holds a Bachelor’s degree (B.A.) in Elementary Education from Graceland University and a Master’s degree (M.Ed) in Literacy Education from the University of Missouri.  She earned her Doctorate (Ed.D) in Educational Leadership at Creighton University.

Dr. Jane Hall Chaillie (Red Oak School District photo)

Chaillie has nearly twenty years of experience in education.  She also serves on various committees and boards, including the SWI STEM Advisory Board and Central Decatur Board of Education. In accepting the position, Dr. Chaillie said “I am super excited to return to Southwest Iowa and continue my quest to make sure our children receive a world class education. The district is doing amazing work in responding to student needs and developing teacher leadership and I am both honored and humbled to be entrusted with this position of leadership. I can’t wait to get started working collaboratively with the staff to meet the needs of all students.”

(Radio Iowa) – Lawmakers hit pause on the 2020 Iowa legislative session eight weeks ago and leadership has set June 3rd as the date for returning to the capitol for votes. The primary duty of the legislature is to establish a state budget, but lawmakers face uncertain state tax collections in the midst of a pandemic. The governor and top legislative leaders have asked a state panel to provide a better prediction of the tax-related consequences of COVID-19 closures and job losses. House Speaker Pat Grassley of New Hartford says he and other Republicans hope to confine state spending plans to projected revenue, rather than dip into the state’s emergency cash reserves.

“Trying to make sure we’re leaving ourselves some room,” Grassley says. “Not spending every penny that’s available to us.” Grassley says the goal is to complete the work of the 2020 legislature over a three-day period. Senator Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, agrees that the legislature should stick to a short, agreed-upon agenda, and adjourn quickly. “The legislature is a risk group,” Bolkcom says. “We have a lot of members that are 65 years of age and older. We have members with pre-existing conditions that are vulnerable and the virus is deadly.”

Grassley says lawmakers will be able to spread out in the House and Senate, as only lawmakers will be allowed on the floor. “We are taking a lot of precautions that are going to be very unprecedented that’s never been seen I would say, well, at least not in my time in the legislature to make sure that we’re giving as many opportunities for folks to feel comfortable,” Grassley says. Legislative staff and anyone from the public will have their temperature checked BEFORE they’ll be allowed in the building.

The legislature’s business — from committee meetings to full debates — will be conducted in the House and Senate chambers, and the public may watch a live-stream of all proceedings.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds says only 4,000 people have gotten results under Iowa’s $26 million coronavirus testing contract but that will increase now that the equipment has been validated. Reynolds said the the State Hygienic Lab has determined that the machines purchased for the TestIowa program are 95% accurate in detecting the virus in samples and 99.7% accurate in determining its absence. She says the validation will allow TestIowa to soon process 3,000 tests per day as originally envisioned. She said it would also allow the tests to be processed faster and the state to broaden the criteria of who can qualify for a test.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 16,700 Iowans filed unemployment claims last week in the wake of efforts to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. A report released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed 16,735 new claims filed between May 3 and May 9. That was drop from the previous week, when nearly 25,000 Iowans filed unemployment claims. The new report came in the same week the state began to allow the reopening of some businesses that had been closed to limit the spread of COVID-19. Nationally, nearly 3 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

MERRILL, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified a man found shot to death this week in a northwestern Iowa home. The Plymouth County Sheriff’s Office says 51-year-old Kevin Leroy Juzek died from shotgun wounds to the abdomen and chest. The Sioux City Journal says Juzek’s death has been ruled a homicide. Deputies were called to a Merrill home late Monday morning for a report of a domestic dispute, and arriving deputies found Juzek dead inside the home. The sheriff’s office says another man in the home, 81-year-old Thomas Jordan Knapp, was arrested and is being held at the county jail as a suspect in the case. So far, Knapp has been charged only with domestic assault.

LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — Federal regulators have reached settlements with two agricultural storage and supply businesses to resolve alleged violations of clean air regulations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a news release Thursday that it inspected Midland Marketing Co-op Inc. and Troy Elevator Inc. in response to accidental releases of anhydrous ammonia that injured workers. Anhydrous ammonia is corrosive to the skin, eyes and lungs. Exposure may result in injury or death. Midland owns a facility in Palco, Kansas. Troy Elevator owns facilities in Bloomfield and Blakesburg, Iowa.

Officials with the Pottawattamie County Public Health Department today (Thursday), reported 25 new positive cases of COVID-19. PCPH says 20 of the new cases are residents of Council Bluffs, four are from Carter Lake, and one is from Oakland. Four of the cases are children (age 0-to 18), nine individuals are 18-to 40 years old, nine are 41-to 60 years old, one ranges in age from 61-to 80, and two are elderly adults (persons age 80 or older). Those individuals were tested between May 2nd and May 13th.

The total of COVID-19 cases in Pottawattamie County is now 131. Officials say as of the latest report, 77 individuals were self-isolating, one was hospitalized, 50 have recovered, one has moved out of state, and there have been two deaths. Based on Pottawattamie County Public Health contact tracing investigations, officials say 46 of the Pottawattamie County COVID-19 cases, are the result of community spread.

(Radio Iowa) — Thousands of COVID-19 tests would have to be conducted before Iowa meets the goal set by the president’s coronavirus task force of testing ALL nursing home residents and staff in the next two weeks. Governor Reynolds says 26-thousand of the coronavirus tests conducted in the state since March were connected to long term care facilities.

“Since May 1st, more than 9000 tests have been sent to 94 facilities to test staff and residents,” Reynolds says. “Strike teams have been deployed to five counties to test more than 1300 long term employees across 40 facilities.” Reynolds says there’s been SOME testing of residents and staff in 95 percent of Iowa’s 444 nursing homes this spring. The most recent federal data shows more than 23-thousand Iowans are residents of a certified nursing facility.

According to Iowa Workforce Development 55-thousand Iowans work in nursing and residential care facilities. If all are tested this month, that would be a total of 78-thousand tests. After nearly 10 weeks of testing, the state just hit a total of 89-thousand tests processed. State officials have confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks at nearly eight percent of the state’s nursing homes and 57 percent of the Iowans who have died of the virus were residents of a long term care facility.

Police in LeMars, late Monday morning, arrested a Wisconsin man on a felony charge related to the enticement of a minor, following a traffic stop for an equipment violation. According to the news release, during the traffic stop, 24-year old Sean Matthew Williams, of Edgerton, WI., was questioned about the presence of a minor occupant in the vehicle. Police determined Williams had allegedly enticed the minor to meet him, after they conversed on social media.

Williams was arrested and charged with Enticement of a Minor (A Class-D Felony), dissemination of Obscene Materials to a minor, having no driver’s license, and no insurance. The LeMars Police Department was assisted by the Iowa DCI. The case remains under investigation.