Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 5:10 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa is reporting 287 new positive coronavirus cases and three additional deaths. KCCI reports that the new cases reported as of 10 a.m. Saturday brought the number of positive cases to 37,903 since the pandemic began. Iowa’s coronavirus hospitalization numbers have been on the rise since the beginning of July. IDPH reported 210 patients hospitalized, unchanged from the previous day. There are 70 patients listed in intensive care, unchanged from the previous day.

UNDATED (AP) — A legislative panel has approved a plan by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate to send absentee ballot request forms to all registered voters as he did before the June primary to help voters concerned about going to polls in person amid a coronavirus pandemic. In a proposed emergency election directive, Pate sought Friday to use federal funds to mail absentee ballot requests to active registered voters for the Nov. 3 election. Pate says a public health disaster persists. He says he’s consulted with all 99 county auditors and some say they cannot send absentee ballot request forms to voters.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s unemployment rate dropped to 8% in June as the state’s economy continued to recover after being hit hard by efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Iowa Workforce Development reported Friday that the 8% unemployment rate was down from 10.2% in May. The number of unemployed residents dropped from 173,000 in May to 131,200 in June. Iowa’s unemployment rate remains far higher than before the coronavirus pandemic, as the jobless rate was 2.7% in June 2019. The national unemployment rate in June was 11.1%.

LE MARS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have charged an 81-year-old man with first-degree murder in a deadly Iowa shooting. A complaint and affidavit filed Thursday in Plymouth County District Court said Thomas Knapp, of Merrill, confessed to shooting 51-year-old Kevin Juzek in May during a disturbance at their home. The Sioux City Journal reports that Knapp previously pleaded not guilty to domestic abuse charge in the case. Authorities responded after his wife called 911 to report that her husband was assaulting her and her son with a stick and also pointed the shotgun at her. She also said Juzek, who also lived in the home, had just been shot.