The State of Iowa’s coronavirus dashboard today (10-a.m., Wednesday), indicates there have been 123 additional, total deaths since Tuesday, for a pandemic total of 3,021.  The IDPH says 2,768 deaths are from underlying causes; 253 are contributing factor deaths. In this area: Cass County has one additional death (for a total of 35); Harrison County has one more death (47 total); Mills County also has one more death (for a total of 8).

The sharp increase in reported deaths may be due to the state’s change in reporting methods. The health department announced Monday that a change to how the state reports coronavirus-related deaths increased Iowa’s COVID-19 death toll. Prior to the announcement, the health department only reported COVID-19 deaths if the person who died had a positive PCR test result. That method left out deaths in which a person had tested positive using an antigen test and cases in which COVID-19 was listed as the cause of death on a death record without a positive test result.

Positive cases increased 2,545, to 248,782. Long-Term Care facility outbreaks  are 141. LTC deaths amount to 1,127. In our area, Cass County has 164 positive cases of COVID-19 among two facilities, with 96 recovered. Pottawattamie County has 267 cases among three facilities, and 151 recovered. Montgomery County has 44 positive cases among three facilities, and 10 recovered.

Hospitalizations are at 894 (6 less than Tuesday), with 196 COVID patients in an ICU (compared to 191 Tues.); 141 were admitted to a hospital with COVID symptoms (Compared to 111 previously), and 120 patients are on a ventilator (compared to 111 Tuesday). Hospitals in western/southwest Iowa report 53 COVID patients (4 less than Tues.), 16 are in an ICU (compared to 20 yesterday), five people were admitted (Compared to 8 Tuesday), and nine are on a ventilator (1 less than yesterday).

State data shows 1,261,909 Iowans have been tested for coronavirus, with a total of 173,439 recovered. Iowa reports a 14-day positivity rate of 15.8% and a 7-day rate of 11.7%.

In the KJAN listening area, here are the current number positive cases; The # of new cases since yesterday {+}; and the total number of deaths in each county (Configured by the new reporting formula):

• Cass, 894 cases; {+18}; 34 deaths
• Adair, 491; {+6}; 15
• Adams, 198; {+2}; 2
• Audubon, 318; {+3}; 6
• Guthrie, 822; {+11}; 22
• Harrison County, 1,179; {+8}; 46
• Madison County, 791; {+12}; 6
• Mills County, 1,140; {+6}; 7
• Montgomery, 567; {+11}; 12
• Pottawattamie County, 7,121; {+62}; 69
• Shelby County, 837; {+11}; 16
• Union County,  917; {+18}; 9

(Radio Iowa) – A group that represents 16 of the largest chambers of commerce in Iowa is urging state lawmakers to clarify when the state’s cash reserves may be used. Iowa Chamber Alliance executive director Dustin Miller says when large scale disasters hit, like the derecho, the state’s economic emergency fund might be used to help businesses recover.  “We think Iowa can be a leader for the next crisis,” Miller says.

The state surplus at the end of the last fiscal year in June was at least 300 million, with another 700 MILLION dollars in reserve. Miller says having the state budget in a stable place is good for the business climate, but the Chamber Alliance is suggesting when the state’s cash reserves are full, those resources could be deployed to help businesses recover from future disasters. “The budget needs to be in a certain place, with ‘Rainy Day’ funds full, but…being able to deploy those resources immediately and being a selling point for the state to be prepared for the next disaster,” Miller says.

The Iowa Chamber Alliance released priorities it would like the state legislature to pursue in 2021. Expanded broadband is at the top of the list, along with taking more steps to ensure there’s a talent pool for businesses.  “Iowa, since 1900, has grown less than 1% annually,” he says. “Tackling population growth is a very challenging endeavor, but it’s certainly something we think needs to happen to ensure the long term economic sustainability of existing businesses and if we want to attract businesses.”

Miller says it will take a complicated approach to expand the state’s workforce, including what he calls “place making” that emphasizes the quality of life in Iowa communities, as well as efforts to expand child care options, enhance job training and apprenticeship programs and attract new Americans to the state.

(Radio Iowa) – A spokesman for the Iowa Department of Transportation is seeing some good trends in rail and other transportation areas for the state’s economy. The D-O-T’s Stuart Anderson gave a report on the issue to the Transportation Commission. “It’s flattened out a bit — but if you diver deeper into the trend of commodities moving by rail there’s some real bright spots — particularly on the grain side,” Anderson says.  He says the movement of grain has picked up. “The grain movements by rail in November were the highest since October of 2007. So, obviously that’s a good indicator for Iowa’s agricultural economy and the export market,” he says.

Anderson says there’s also been an increase in intermodal shipments by trains and trucks. “Those are generally the retail products in intermodal containers. November was the six highest ever recorded in terms of carloads,” according to Anderson. “Buy for one week, it was trending toward being the best month ever.” There were reports of many people taking trips during Thanksgiving despite COVID warnings. Anderson says the airline numbers still remain down. “We’re still seeing passenger counts at about 35 to 40 percent of the pre-pandemic levels,” he says. “And despite what you saw in some of the Thanksgiving television coverage — the airport counts during Thanksgiving were again well below what they had been pre-pandemic,”

Anderson says traffic on the roadways was running about ten percent below the 2019 levels until just recently when it dipped to 15 percent below 2019. “What we have seen since mid-November though is a bit of a shift. Mid-November reflected the latest surge in COVID-19 in the state — and also the governor’s statewide mask mandate and the encouragement of more teleworking. So, we’ve seen a direct correlation with those activities and actions with statewide travel,” Anderson says.

Anderson expects the travel levels to remain lower for some time. “Certainly through the winter and maybe even beyond that as we are seeing longer term changes in teleworking as a result of going through this,” Anderson explains.  He says the continued drop in travel is projected to lead to around a three percent decrease in fuel taxes coming in.

(Radio Iowa) – A 48-year-old Sioux City man is pleading guilty to embezzling at least 22-thousand dollars from the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Jason Ehlers was General Manager of BluStone Homes, also known as HoChunk Real Estate, which is owned by the tribe. He signed a plea agreement, admitting he stole construction supplies, drew up fake invoices and engaged in fradulent rebate schemes. Ehlers will be sentenced later. He could be fined up to 250-thousand dollars and sentenced to up to five years in prison on the charge.

A traffic stop at around 11:15-p.m. Tuesday resulted in a man’s arrest on drug and other charges. Red Oak Police say 51-year old Dennis Lee Binns, Jr., of Red Oak, was arrested for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Methamphetamine, and Driving While Suspended. Binns was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.