Officials with the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency said Sunday, Shelby County is currently in extreme fire danger and is in a burn ban until further notice.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has tried to erect a protective shield around nursing homes, but coronavirus cases are surging within facilities in states hard hit by the latest wave of COVID-19.

Weekly COVID-19 infections in nursing homes in 20 states have been rising since May. (AP Graphic)

An analysis of federal data from 20 states (including Iowa) for The Associated Press finds that new weekly cases among residents rose nearly four-fold from the end of May to late October, from about 1,100 to nearly 4,300. Resident deaths more than doubled, from 318 a week to 699. That’s according to University of Chicago health researchers.

The administration says nursing home outbreaks involve complex dynamics and the government has provided billions of dollars to help nursing homes as well as thousands of fast-test machines.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A Council Bluffs man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for two sexual assaults. Forty-year-old Richard Siemer Jr. was sentenced after he pled guilty to second-degree sexual abuse and third-degree sexual abuse as part of a deal with prosecutors. Assistant Pottawattamie County Attorney Malina Dobson said these latest crimes are the fourth and fifth sexual assault convictions on Siemer’s record.

Dobson said the most recent offenses occurred in July and August 2019 after Siemer befriended women whom he worked with and invited them to his apartment and attacked them. Siemer will have to register as a sex offender after he is released from prison.

Red Oak Police, Saturday arrested a man and a woman on two counts each, of Tampering with a Witness. 41-year old Tyler Geoffrey Jennings and 35-year old Erika Joann Driver, both of Red Oak, were arrested Saturday and held on $2,000 bond each, in the Montgomery County Jail.

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.”

Montgomery County Auditor/Commissioner of Elections Stephanie Burke, Saturday said in accordance with Iowa Code, the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office has ordered a post-election audit of the November 3, 2020, General Election.

By random selection, Precinct Four (the Elliott Community Building), will be the precinct audited. The Montgomery County Auditor’s Office will conduct the audit on Thursday, November 12th starting at 1:30 p.m.

The audit will take place in the basement meeting room in the Courthouse, 105 E Coolbaugh Street, Red Oak. The proceeding will open to the public.

A man from Pottawattamie County died Friday morning during a motorcycle accident north of Glenwood. The Iowa State Patrol reports 58-year-old Larry Garretson, of Council Bluffs, was operating a 1978 Kawasaki KZ1000 northbound on 221st Street at around 8:10-a.m., when for reasons unknown, the cycle left the road and entered the east ditch. The machine struck a fallen tree and road sign, causing Garretson to be thrown into the ditch.

Authorities say Garretson was wearing a helmet, but died at the scene from his injuries. The accident remains under investigation. The Patrol was assisted at the scene by Glenwood Fire and Rescue and the Mills County Sheriff’s Office.

Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard (as of 10 a.m. Saturday) indicated there were 14 more deaths attributed to COVID-19 since Friday’s report, for a total of 1,829. Two more deaths are reported in Cass County (for a total of 10), and Pottawattamie County (49 total), while Harrison County had had one additional death (total 21). The number of deaths attributed to a pre-existing conditions statewide are 1,194, while deaths at Long-Term Care facilities amount to 886, seven more than what was reported Friday.

Officials say there are 4,249 new confirmed cases of the virus, for a total since the pandemic began, of 148,391. Cass County also has 5 more Positive cases of COVID, for a total of 563. Double-digit case increases were also reported in Guthrie, Madison, Mills, Montgomery, Pottawattamie and Union Counties.

The number of Long-Term Care facility (LTC) outbreaks is 92, four more than Friday. Those care facilities report 2,798 positive cases and 1,183 recoveries.   In Cass County, three facilities: Atlantic Specialty Care, The Heritage House, and the Griswold Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, have a combined total of 143 positive cases, with 34 recovered. Atlantic Specialty Care has the highest number of COVID cases in the county, at 75. Harrison County has 294 cases among three facilities, and 200 recovered. Longview Home, Inc. has the highest positivity rate in that county, for a total of 119.  (For more data, go to https://coronavirus.iowa.gov/)

Hospitalizations were down from 912 Friday, to 901 on Saturday. There more COVID patients in an ICU, though, 194 Saturday as compared to 188 Friday. Persons admitted to a hospital since Friday’s report number 165, one more than yesterday. And there are 72 persons on a ventilator, compared to 67 on Friday. In western/southwestern Iowa: there are three more people hospitalized with COVID, for a total of 60; Four more are in an ICU, for a total of 21, and 8 people were admitted, (compared to 10 previously). There are currently three persons on a ventilator, unchanged from yesterday.

The health department reports 1,021,858 Iowans have been tested for COVID-19. The state received 6,479 lab test results in the previous day, with 1,841 Positive results and 4,632 Negative results. The State’s Individual Positivity rate is up to 14.5% (14.2% )previously, and the 14-day rolling average is up to 18.6% (It was 17.6% Friday).

Cass County’s Positivity rate dropped 19% to 18.6%.  Taylor County is up to 24.6%, and Page County’s Positivity rate jumped to 32.8%.  Jones County, in eastern Iowa has the State’s highest Positivity rate, at 41.2%.   Officials say 100,343 Iowans have recovered from the virus.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases in each county, along with the 24-hour change in case numbers {+#}; the number of persons recovered, and the total number of [deaths] (if any), since the pandemic began,

• Cass, 563 cases {+5}; 364 recovered; 10 deaths
• Adair, 265 {+5}; 98; 3
• Adams, 93; 59; 1
• Audubon, 221 {+2}; 115; 1
• Guthrie, 495 {+15); 322; 15
• Harrison County, 799 {+6}; 474; 21
• Madison County, 443 {+17}; 312; 4
• Mills County, 578 {+31}; 285; 3
• Montgomery, 255 {+13}; 200; 7
• Pottawattamie County, 3,928 {+92]; 2,811; 49
• Shelby County, 483 {+5}; 4290; 2
• Union County,  342 {+12}; 254; 6

Mills County Public Health along with Mills County Emergency Management Agency announced
an additional death associated with novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the county today. The
individual was female in the age range of 60-79.

“We cannot express the sorrow we feel for the family in their time of loss,” said Mills County
Public Health Administrator Julie Lynes. “This loss will forever alter the lives of the family and
friends of this individual.”

Wear your mask whenever you might be within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes of anyone outside
of those you live with. We will continue to release these numbers on a weekly basis. For further
statistical data available, in near real time, visit the Iowa Coronavirus webpage at:
https://coronavirus.iowa.gov