Pottawattamie County Planning and Development Director Matt Wyant, Sunday, issued a statement concerning COVID-19 contact tracing. Wyant said “Pottawattamie County Public Health is and will continue to contact trace all cases as COVID-19 makes a larger impact into our community. A part of contact tracing is assessing risk to the general public. If and when a risk to the public is identified, that location is publicized along with steps to take. With the recent increase in our cases, all risks have been assessed and contacts notified. The State of Iowa and Iowa Department of Public Health, along with several health departments, have identified community spread of COVID-19.

“With the identification of community spread came the Governor’s proclamations and restrictions on local businesses and workplaces. We are still in community spread and continue to identify cases that we can not trace back to a source, but it can be traced as to risk to the pubic and people around them.”

Wyant says all precautions should still be taken, such as social distancing, proper hygiene, limiting trips to the store and out in public to only the necessary. “This has been a long road, he said, “and I want to personally thank everyone in Pottawattamie County for their strength and perseverance in these unprecedented times. Pottawattamie County has been running about two to three weeks behind modeling data.” Wyant says ” We will see a increase in numbers in the next few weeks as testing increases in our area. We are as prepared as we can be, and we have great health systems in our area. The whole community is behind this effort to minimize the impact on our area and be as transparent as we can with the public.”