Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:15 a.m. CDT

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds is ordering residents in northeastern Iowa to practice stricter social distancing amid growing concerns about coronavirus outbreaks at meatpacking plants and nursing homes. Reynolds on Thursday said she is banning “all gatherings” for social, community, recreational and leisure purpose in the region that includes Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Dubuque. Previously, the governor had banned all gatherings larger than 10 statewide. Reynolds said that residents can only gather with household members, with few exceptions, and they must do everything possible to stay six feet away from others in public. They can go outside for work and essential errands.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds refused to say whether she was asked to join with other Midwest governors in coordinating the reopening of their state economies. The governors of seven Midwestern states announced Thursday they had agreed to work together to restart their economies amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Midwest agreement includes Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Kentucky. Five of the governors are Democrats and two are Republicans. Reynolds’ spokesman Pat Garrett says she will continue to have conversations with other governors but didn’t respond when asked if she was asked to join the Midwest group.

TIFFIN, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have obtained search warrants as they investigate the suspicious death of a 15-year-old boy whose body was found over the weekend in a lake near Iowa City. The Gazette reports that the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office is not commenting on what led authorities to look in Coralville Lake for Noah Herring, who was last seen in nearby Tiffin on April 7. Johnson County Sheriff’s Office Detective Sgt. Brad Kunkel told The Gazette on Thursday that Herring’s body was found Saturday with assistance from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Unemployment claims continued to surge last week in Iowa as more workers lost their jobs amid efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus, but the numbers came in lower than the previous week’s record high. The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that 46,356 people in Iowa filed for unemployment benefits in the week that ended April 11. While high, the number is a drop from the record 67,334 people who filed in the first week of April and the 58,000 who filed the week before that. Pandemic-related layoffs in several industries, from health care to manufacturing and food services, were driving factors behind Iowa’s claims.