Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — State health officials reported five more deaths and 323 additional cases of coronavirus on Sunday. The Iowa Department of Public Health said 351 people have died from COVID-19 in the state and 14,651 have tested positive for the disease caused by the coronavirus. For some infected people, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, the virus can cause severe illness or death. But for most people, it causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa has rebuilt its stockpile of personal protective equipment after a dire shortage that prompted the state to buy replenishments from some unusual sources. Records show Iowa’s executive branch has signed $45 million worth of emergency purchase orders for isolation gowns, masks, face shields, goggles and other equipment from mid-March through April. That includes $7.2 million in contracts for gowns and goggles with a Des Moines business that has never previously sold either and is known for making Republican campaign signs. The deals include 590,000 masks that were purchased directly from China and to be flown to an Ankeny warehouse.

CASS COUNTY, Neb. (AP) — An Iowa man is facing several charges after fleeing from police in southeast Nebraska. The Cass County Sheriff’s office says the chase reached speeds up to 130 miles per hour on U.S. Highway 75 Friday morning. The 55-year-old Council Bluffs man stopped briefly after deputies pulled him over around 11:40 a.m. before fleeing northbound. The driver’s 2005 Ford Crown Victoria wound up in a ditch after he exited the highway without slowing down. The Cass County Sheriff’s office says the man was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, fleeing to avoid arrest, reckless driving and several other charges.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — University of Iowa researchers privately warned that the coronavirus would continue spreading through the state even before Gov. Kim Reynolds relaxed social distancing policies, a move they said would exacerbate the problem. In a report to the Iowa Department of Public Health on April 27, the university experts said that Iowa had not reached a peak and reopening the state economy before then would “result in a rapid rise of cases.” In a paper dated May 4, they found that the virus was still likely growing. They said that Iowa’s school and business closures and other steps had strongly mitigated the spread of infection but nonetheless were not “sufficient to prevent uncontained spread.”