The Iowa Department of Public Health reports, as of this (Sunday) morning (6-a.m.), there are 605 more positive test results for COVID-19 statewide, for a total of 106, 752 since the beginning of the pandemic. Cass County reports NINE new cases since Saturday, for a total of 293. The number of deaths across the state that have been attributed to the virus, is up two this morning, to 1,528, with one more death being reported in Harrison County, where the total is 8 since the start of the pandemic. Of the deaths statewide, officials say 1,026 of those individuals had a pre-existing health condition.

New, Positive COVID-19 cases in our area, include: 31 in Pottawattamie County; five in Shelby County; four in Harrison County; 3 each in Adams, Mills and Union Counties; 2 each in Adair and Guthrie Counties, and one more case in both Madison and Audubon Counties.

There have been 897,543 Iowans tested for the virus, to date. The IDPH says 4,884 test results have been returned since 10-a.m. Saturday, with 4,234 coming back Negative, and 629 Positive. The total number of Negatives results to date, is 789,168. The Individual positivity rate is 11.9%, while the 14-day rolling average is 9.6%.  Hospitalizations are up again, after having fallen in yesterday’s report. The number of Iowans hospitalized with the virus, is 475, compared to 461 on Saturday. ICU stats are up, too, from 104 Saturday, to 108 today. There have been 84 Iowans with COVID-19 symptoms admitted to hospitals around the state since the last report, and 45 patients on a ventilator, compared to 46 yesterday.

The IDPH says there are: 34 people are in hospital across western/southwest Iowa, compared to 28 yesterday; eight people are being treated for COVID-19 in an ICU, compared to nine previously; five people have been admitted to a hospital (Compared to three Saturday), and one person remains on a ventilator. Long-Term Care facility outbreaks are up slightly, from 63 yesterday, to 64 today. Officials say: there are 1,564 positive cases among staff and patients at those facilities; 631 staff/patients have recovered from the virus, and there have been 768 deaths since the pandemic began.

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, 293 cases {+9}; 222 recovered; 2 deaths
• Adair, 122 {+2}; 64; 1
• Adams, 66 {+3}; 35; 0
• Audubon, 128 {+1}; 59; 1
• Guthrie, 360 {+2); 223; 14
• Harrison County, 551 {+4}; 192; 8
• Madison County, 336 {+1}; 206; 2
• Mills County, 326 {+3}; 173; 1
• Montgomery, 150; 119; 5
• Pottawattamie County, 2,931 {+31}; 2,129; 43
• Shelby County, 340 {+5}; 298; 1
• Union County,  208 {+3}; 175; 3

(Radio Iowa) – An Ames native and Iowa State University graduate will host a virtual lecture this coming week, focusing on the various epidemics that hit that campus — and the country — more than a century ago. History Professor Doug Biggs says over the span of several years, there were multiple critical health emergencies, including a typhoid fever outbreak in 1906 and the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.  “These epidemics were a great scourge in the minds of the administration and the faculty and they worked as best as they could to alleviate and avoid them,” Biggs says. “Sometimes they were successful and sometimes they were not.”

Professor Doug Biggs

The Spanish Flu killed 675-thousand Americans, but at that time, just as now, there were many critics who refused to wear masks, quoting their constitutional rights. Despite our advances in medicine, Biggs says human nature hasn’t changed much in a hundred years, even though we’d like to think we’re smarter than our ancestors. “But, just as in 1918-1919, there were people who disbelieved what was in front of them, that this couldn’t happen,” Biggs says, “and there were those who were on the other end where they would lock themselves in their homes and they would never go outside.”

Given his extensive research on the topic of past epidemics, Biggs was asked if he had an educated guess about how long the current coronavirus pandemic may last. “To quote one of my personal heroes, Dr. McCoy from Star Trek,” Biggs says, laughing, “‘Well, Jim, I’m a historian, not a doctor.'”

Biggs was born in Ames and earned his B-A and master’s degrees in history at I-S-U. He’s now a professor of history at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (CAR-nee). His virtual lecture is scheduled for 7 PM Tuesday, October 20th. It’s free and open to anyone through this link:
www.lectures.iastate.edu/lectures/early-epidemics-iowa-state-1877-1918

Officials with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), were contacted by the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, Saturday morning, after jailers discovered an unresponsive male inmate in his cell. According to the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Office, jail staff attempted to provide life-saving measures, Algona EMS responded, but the man was pronounced dead. The inmate’s name was not immediately released, pending notification of family.

An autopsy will be scheduled with the State Medical Examiner’s Office, in Ankeny.

(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board has awarded state tax breaks to three Iowa-based companies that promise to expand and hire three dozen more people. Sukup Manufacturing, a family-owned company with headquarters in Sheffield, makes grain handling equipment. The company plans to spend four-point-seven MILLION dollars to expand its facility in Manly and promises to hire 10 more employees once it’s done. The Frontier Co-op in Norway sells organic herbs and spices throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The Co-op plans to spend more than seven MILLION dollars expanding its warehouse and hire two dozen people once the project is completed. The third company to be awarded state tax breaks Electrical Power Products in Des Moines. The company promises to add two more people to its payroll once a five-and-a-half MILLION dollar expansion is completed.

More State and area news from KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Updated 5:15-a.m., 10/18) –

An online petition is available for persons who wish to support a mask/face shield mandate for the Atlantic School District, and eliminate the need to quarantine. The petition, created by CCHS Nurse Laura Robinson, can be found at Change.org. It’s directed toward the Atlantic School Board, which, to-date has not mandated a mask/face shield policy, and looks to obtain 500 signatures (as of early Sunday morning, there were 499). The petition will be presented to the Atlantic School Board during their next regular meeting.

This past week, a student in the 4^th Grade tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in some students being forced to quarantine until Oct. 27th. Superintendent Steve Barber said he’s aware of the petition and the latest test results.

On Wednesday, Mr. Barber reported the number of students wearing masks has declined around 30-percent, while many of the staff are still seen wearing them. The standard for the Pre-Kindergarten through 5^th Grade building, is to encourage students to wear masks when social distancing cannot occur. Anyone in grades 6-thru-12 are expected to wear masks, when social distancing was not possible.

Superintendent Barber, Friday, issued an update on the way the Coronavirus is impacting the district. Barber says “We continue to assess our system by looking at data and making adjustments to our response to COVID.”He said “As we have talked before, we have a communication plan in place that we use when we are notified of a positive COVID case for one of our students or staff.”

According to Mr. Barber, “Individuals staff and parents of students who are determined to have been in close contact are communicated with directly by the school and/or Cass County Public Health. Any other individual that potentially could have become infected by the positive case gets notification.” He concluded by saying “We continue to follow the guidelines of Iowa Department of Public Health and those set up by the Governor in how we isolate and quarantine those affected.”

The area’s latest and/or top news stories at 7:05-a.m. From KJAN News Director Ric Hanson.

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(Radio Iowa/IPPA) – A Linn County restaurant is the home of Iowa’s “Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin” for 2020. Iowa Pork Producers Association spokesperson, Dal Grooms, says the winning sandwich is sold at the PrairieMoon On Main in the small town of Prairieburg. “It’s about 30 miles northeast of Cedar Rapids and they’ve been in business a few years and had been thinking about what really is a good tenderloin,”Grooms says. “And they decided that they were going to focus on the flavor and the juiciness of the pork rather than the breading — although it is a breaded tenderloin.”

At PrairieMoon On Main, tenderloins are served with lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles.

Grooms says there were plenty of entries from Iowans in this year’s contest. She says they had more than 390 different restaurants entered by some 4,500 people. “that’s really pretty spectacular when you think about the year we’ve been living through,” according to Grooms. “Some establishments had either closed or reduced the number of service hours they had because of all the pandemic related closures.”

Loren and Amy Lacy have owned the restaurant for about a year-and-a-half. PrairieMoon will receive $500, a plaque, and a large banner to display. IPPA judges selected Birdies, Burgers & Brews, located at Hillcrest Golf & Country Club in Graettinger, as the runner-up in the 2020 contest; that establishment will receive $250 and a plaque from IPPA. Rounding out the top five finalists (in no order) are Bents Smokehouse & Pub, Westgate; The Blind Pig, Cedar Rapids; and Sasquatch Jacks Hideaway Barroom & Grill, Waverly. Those restaurants will receive a Top Five plaque to display.

IPPA received 4,501 nominations for 390 different establishments during the spring nomination period. The restaurant and foodservice committee judged the top 40 restaurants in the summer, scoring each on the quality of the pork, taste, physical characteristics, and eating experience. The winners are announced as part of #Porktober20, or October Pork Month, which celebrates the state’s dedicated pig farmers, local restaurants and their hardworking teams, and a famous Midwest favorite—the pork tenderloin sandwich.

The Pub at the Pinicon in New Hampton won the 2019 contest. For a full list of past winners, visit https://www.iowapork.org/best-breaded-pork-tenderloin-contest/.

This was the 18th annual best tenderloin contest to be held each October during Iowa Pork Month.

(Radio Iowa) — This week’s White House Coronavirus Task Force report puts Iowa in its “red zone” for new infections. The rate of new Covid cases here is twice the national average. Governor Kim Reynolds says Iowans need to monitor what’s going on in their community. “We really need to focus,” Reynolds says. “We know that the most vulnerable Iowans are older Iowans age 65 and over and those Iowans with pre-existing conditions are the ones that are most at risk.”

IA Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks during a Press Conference (File Photo)

The state’s coronavirus website shows (as of Saturday morning) there are Covid outbreaks at 63 Iowa nursing homes (two more than on Friday). For the past 10 days, the total number of Covid patients in Iowa hospitals has been higher than at any other point in the pandemic, although fewer patients are winding up in intensive care units. “The same thing applies today that applied when we had our first cases of Covid-19 in the state of Iowa and that is to stay home when you’re sick, social distance when you can. If you can’t, make sure you have a face covering and wash your hands often,” Reynolds says. “…If you’re a vulnerable Iowan, you need to take extra precautions.”

This week’s White House Coronavirus Task Force warns cases are increasing in Iowa due to social gatherings of families and friends. It specifically classified the cities of Carroll, Council Bluffs, Dubuque, Pella, Sioux City, Spencer, Spirit Lake and Storm Lake as “red zone” areas.