(Radio Iowa) – One-hundred-70 state hospital leaders are urging Iowans to follow public health recommendations to slow the spread of COVID-19. A joint statement released by the Iowa Hospital Association’s physician leadership group and the Organization for Nursing Leadership asks Iowans to avoid crowds, stay home when sick and wear a mask. Dr. Michael McCoy, chief medical officer with Great River Health in West Burlington, says his hospital’s biggest challenge has been finding enough staff to take care of COVID patients. McCoy says, “We’ve already stopped doing a lot of our elective surgeries, almost all of them, not because of beds, but because of — we needed to pull staff from that area.”

McCoy says 97 hospital employees were out Monday because they were either sick with the virus or needed to quarantine. Rates of new COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations have more than doubled in the past month. Dr. Tammy Chance, at the Boone County Hospital, says her goal this past summer was to get people to follow precautions so they could spend the holidays with family. Chance says, “I know this sounds morbid, but now my goal is to get people to take this seriously, so they don’t have an extra grave to visit of a close friend or loved one come next Memorial Day.”

Chance says there were a few days last week when her region nearly ran out of ICU beds, and her hospital has faced critical staffing shortages related to the virus. As of today (Wednesday), more than 1,300 Iowans were hospitalized with the virus, with nearly 270 in ICUs. Some 200 patients were hospitalized for the virus statewide in the past 24 hours.

(By Natalie Krebs, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – The pandemic is forcing many Iowans to shake up their Thanksgiving traditions and while many of us won’t be in the same room with loved ones tomorrow (Thursday), virtual rooms are growing in popularity. After the big meal, many families play board or dice games, which can be easy through Zoom or Skype, according to game lover Annelise Tarnowski of Des Moines. She just played Yahtzee with a distant friend online.

“Yahtzee you can absolutely play if you can find five dice somewhere around your house, then print out one of the sheets from online, and you’ve got a game, that’s it,” Tarnowski says. “We both got on a video call and when it was my turn, I would roll my dice, when it was her turn, she would roll her dice. She beat me every time and I’m kind of a sore loser, but it was still fun and it was still good to see my friend.” Tarnowski owns The Rook Room, a pop-up board game bar and cafe, based in Des Moines. She says there are all sorts of board games that work perfectly well in the virtual format.

“Trivial Pursuit is one, even without the board, just playing the cards and reading them to each other, that’s really easy,” Tarnowski says. “Also, games like Scattergories or Pictionary, anything that might have a generator online where you can get all of the cards. If not everyone in your family or your friend group owns the game, you can find a lot of these that will give you prompts.” Games that involve decks of cards don’t work so well online, but Tarnowski says there’s an app called House Party which she recommends. It offers a wide selection of familiar games that you can play via your smartphone or tablet with far-away friends and family — or even those who are close by.

“I was just playing Uno with my boyfriend the other day. We were in the same room but I wanted to play Uno and we don’t have it, so we both downloaded this app and we played Uno against each other,” Tarnowski says. “It’s cool because you can see the cards kind of over your friends faces and it feels like you are playing around a table.” She also suggests falling back to old-school role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons, which can easily make the jump to Zoom by simply employing pen and paper — and your imagination.

(By Charity Nebbe, Iowa Public Radio)

DES MOINES – The five state-operated Test Iowa sites and the State Hygienic Lab will be closed Thursday, Nov. 26, for Thanksgiving Day. The sites include:

Black Hawk County — 4121 Alexandra Drive, Waterloo
Linn County — Windstar Lines, 5755 Willow Creek Drive SW, Cedar Rapids
Polk County — 4475 NE 3rd Street, Des Moines
Pottawattamie County — Western Historic Trails Center, 3434 Richard Downing Ave., Council Bluffs
Scott County — North Park Mall, 320 W. Kimberly Road, Davenport

The Council Bluffs site will close two hours early today (Wednesday, Nov.25) at 2 p.m. This will allow test samples to be transported to the lab for processing overnight so individuals can be notified of results in a timely manner. All other sites will remain open until 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

The five sites will reopen for testing as usual on Friday, Nov. 27, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Individuals who wish to be tested at any site must first complete an online assessment at testiowa.com, and schedule an appointment. Locations and hours of operation for all test sites can be found at testiowa.com or coronavirus.iowa.gov.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A University of Iowa fraternity has been suspended for hazing, with a report citing verbal abuse and and an incident where new members were required to drink dangerously high amounts of alcohol. The university says the violations were by the Acacia Fraternity. The Cedar Rapids Gazette obtained an investigative report through a public records request. The suspension lasts through 2024. One allegation said that in the spring semester, new members were ordered to stay in the fraternity house attic until they consumed alcohol that included 60 to 90 cans of beer, along with vodka and a gallon of a drink called Jungle Juice. Several new members got sick.

(Norfolk, NE) – Troopers from the Nebraska and Iowa State Patrol Divisions are teaming up to keep travelers safe on both sides of the Missouri River this Thanksgiving. Both law enforcement agencies will conduct simultaneous Patrol operations on many thoroughfares in northeast Nebraska and northwest Iowa, as part of the effort. The high-visibility campaign is underway now through Sunday, Nov. 29th.

The campaign will focus on major highways in both states, including (In Iowa): Highways 20 and 75, and Interstate 29. All motorists are urged to follow traffic safety laws during their travel, including following the posted speed limits, avoiding distracted or impaired driving, and always wearing a seat belt. Motorists in either state can call *55 on their cell phone, or 800-525-5555 to reach the State Patrol Helpline for their respective state.

Police in Creston report the arrest at around 1:50-a.m. today (Wednesday), of 26-year old Andrew Palmer, from Creston. Palmer was taken into custody at McKinley/Spillway, for Driving While Revoked, Open Container, Failure to provide proof of SR-22 insurance. He was cited and released at the scene. And, at around 11:40-a.m. Tuesday, 33-year old Jessica Swietlik, of Creston, was arrested on a Union County warrant for Violation of a Protection Order. She was being held in the Adams County Jail, while awaiting bond.