DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says the Memorial Day weekend could be the time to “tiptoe” out after weeks of staying home due to the coronavirus, but any outings would come as the state still is seeing hundreds of new cases daily. Reynolds says Friday the 14-day trend of new positive cases is moving lower and other metrics including hospitalization rates are lower and stable.

Despite the optimism, the number of virus deaths has been relatively consistent, with 18 Friday, 19 Thursday and 14 Wednesday. The total stood Friday at 418 deaths. There were 454 positive cases, boosting the state total to 16,408 as of Friday morning.