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Iowa early News Headlines: Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020

News

November 8th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa. (AP) — Iowa reported another 4,249 confirmed coronavirus cases Saturday as the outbreak tested hospitals. The new cases recorded from 10 a.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Saturday brought the state’s total since the pandemic began to 148,391. The number of deaths also increased by 14 to 1,829. Several long-term care facilities recorded added multiple outbreaks as of Saturday, including Ridgewood Specialty Care in Ottumwa, with 14 cases. On Saturday, the state was reporting 901 hospitalizations, down from 912 on Friday. In the past 24 hours, 165 patients have been admitted. Also, there are 194 patients in the ICU, up from 188 on Friday.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a vote-counting mistake has reversed the leader of a southeast Iowa congressional race. Preliminary results had shown Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks leading the open U.S. House race over Democrat Rita Hart by 282 votes out of more than 393,000 cast. However, Jasper County elections officials spotted a problem Thursday, and after working with the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office determined the numbers had been inaccurately reported from one precinct. After the correction, officials said Friday that Hart now leads the race by 162 votes. The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race, deeming it too close to call.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa prison officials reported a coronavirus outbreak has infected nearly half of the inmates at an Iowa prison in Anamosa. Cord Overton, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections, said Friday that testing this week revealed 476 inmates among 985 at the prison tested positive for the virus. A report provided by the department indicates 37 staff members also tested positive. Across the nine institutions the department manages, 601 inmates are currently infected as of Friday afternoon.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — The family of a 97-year-old Iowa woman who died of the coronavirus is questioning why a Davenport hospital released her while she was still sick and didn’t inform her family that she had been sent home. The Quad-City Times reports that Helen Lowery died two days after a maintenance worker found her unconscious in a chair in her apartment on Oct. 21. Grandson Michael Lowery says her family had no idea she had been sent home, even though he had asked to be informed. The hospital’s chief medical officer says that generally COVID-19 patients “are discharged or remain hospitalized depending upon the individual’s clinical condition and the patient’s choice of care setting.”