(Radio Iowa) – The Harrison County board of supervisors has approved a countywide mask mandate, but the requirement won’t be in place quite yet. Harrison County Public Health Administrator Brad Brake says the county is still figuring out the next steps. He says the document will be published in local newspapers next week and will likely take effect several days later.  Brake says, “For our schools that don’t currently have a requirement in place, it gives me time to talk through what that looks like for those schools.”

Two school districts don’t require masks on their own, but the countywide requirement forces them to. The requirement applies to schools and other indoor public settings — like pharmacies, grocery stores and hardware stores. There’s no enforcement behind it but Brake says he hopes it draws attention to how real the pandemic is there.  Brake says, “If nothing else, people have learned more and we will see an uptick in mask use until we have better measures that can protect our residents.”

Some exemptions include people who are under two years old and while someone is exercising. The county’s coronavirus infection rate has stayed above 20 percent since October 9th. Three of its four long-term care facilities currently have outbreaks.

(reporting by Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)

(Radio Iowa) – Halloween is tomorrow (Saturday) night, which also marks the end of Daylight Saving Time, as we move our clocks back an hour. Sioux City Police Sergeant Jeremy McClure says the weekend brings a high potential for an increase in drunk drivers: “This weekend’s going to be big for parties and people going out, especially with Daylight Saving Time ending this weekend, so that’ll be an extra hour at the bars,” McClure says. “We know there will be an increase of impaired drivers on the road. We want to remind people to designate a driver and get home safe.”

Even though trick-or-treating takes place early in the evening, McClure says those early party goers need to be aware there will be more people than normal out on the streets:  “With more people out and about, especially Saturday night, more kids trick or treating, even just a few drinks impairs your ability to drive a car safely,” he says. “We want people to be aware of that and not drive if they’ve been drinking.”

There will be more local law enforcement on the streets, too. “As always, we have grant funds to have extra patrols out,” McClure says. “We will have officers out specifically looking for impaired drivers. Our goal would be to find no impaired drivers. That would be a great weekend for us.”

McClure hopes those people who are out partying will take advantage of ride shares or have a designated driver.

A woman from Adams County says she forgot her cell phone while she was in the restroom at the Creston Walmart, on Oct. 16th. The Prescott woman told police that when she went back to retrieve it, the Samsung S9 phone was gone. The device was valued at $400.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police in Des Moines say they’ve made an arrest after a shooting killed a man and injured a woman. Police say the shooting happened around 7:30 p.m. Thursday near the grounds of East High School. Officers called to the scene found a 29-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to her leg and learned that a 21-year-old man had been taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest and later died. Police have not yet released his name.

Minutes after the shooting, police arrested a suspect with the help of information from witnesses. Police say 27-year-old Wesley Marquise Bekish is charged with first-degree murder and a weapons count in the shooting.

(Radio Iowa) – Despite the pandemic, many Iowa communities are still holding trick-or-treat nights for kids this weekend, while some adults are hosting socially-distanced Halloween parties. Juanita Cameron is a clerk at the Theatrical Shop in West Des Moines, which specializes in costumes. She says one particular mask is selling big this fall. “That plague doctor mask with the pointy nose, it’s brown,” Cameron says. “Of course, plague says it all, so I think they just want to show people that they’re in the mood.”

Plague Doctor mask

While health care workers are being seen by many as heroes during the COVID-19 plight, Cameron says very few people are dressing up in scrubs or other costumes to resemble doctors and nurses. “Interestingly enough, I have not sold any,” she says. “People are going towards superheroes because they want to see victory at the end of what’s going on.” The popular superheroes this Halloween include old favorites like Superman, Batman and Spiderman. With the election days away, Cameron says political candidates are also making for sought-after costumes.  “The most popular ones are the presidential nominees, Mr. President and also Mr. Biden, so those are very popular,” Cameron says, laughing. “We even have Dr. Fauci.”

It’s said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, and if that’s the case, Trump is leading Biden at her store. “Most of them are getting the Trump wigs,” she says, “so I would say the Trump wigs are going out faster than the Biden mask.” Forecasters say it’ll be a chilly weekend for trick-or-treaters, with lows expected both tonight (Friday) and Saturday night in the 20s and 30s across the state.

Iowa’s Coronavirus dashboard today (Friday, as of 10-a.m.), shows deaths from the virus have topped 1,700. The data show there are 2,621 new, Positive cases, and a total of 1,705 deaths – an increase of 14 since 10-a.m. Thursday. In this area, Pottawattamie County has 39 new, confirmed cases of the virus, Cass County has 17 more cases. There are 16 more cases in Audubon County, and Shelby County has 12 additional cases. Two counties, Harrison and Adams each have one additional death reported from COVID-19.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reports of the 1,705 deaths, 1,114 were attributed to a pre-existing health condition. Tests to date number 963,686, with a total of 124,534 Positive, and 837,800 Negative. Tests results returned since 10-a.m. Thursday amount to 6,067, with 4,737 of those coming back Negative, and 1,315 Positive. The Individual Positivity rate in Iowa is 12.9% (compared to 12.7% yesterday), and the 14-day rolling average is 12.5% (compared to 11.8% previously). The health department say 92,272 Iowans have recovered from COVID.

A record number of Iowa counties report a high positivity rate. There are 31 counties with a 14-day positivity rate greater than 15%, up from a record 25 the previous day. That means public schools in these counties can apply for a waiver to provide 100% online learning. State data shows 606 Iowans hospitalized with COVID-19, up from a record of 605 the previous day. The number of Iowans listed in intensive care is approaching the record of 164 set on May 7. There are currently 152 patients in intensive care, up from 135 the previous day. There were 95 patients admitted in the last 24 hours, down from a record 113 the previous day. There are 55 patients on ventilators, down from 56 the previous day. Iowa reports approximately 2,720 inpatient beds available, with 742 ventilators and 371 ICU beds available.

In western/southwest Iowa: hospitalizations stand at 47 (4 more than previously mentioned); 11 people are in an ICU (compared to 9 yesterday); six were admitted (there were nine admitted Thursday), and three remain on a ventilator. Long-Term Care (LTC) facility outbreaks are up to 76 (from 75 yesterday), 2,201 patients/staff at LTC’s have tested positive, and 905 have recovered. Deaths at LTC’s are up to 832 (from 831 yesterday).

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, 435 cases {+17}; 296 recovered; 3 deaths
• Adair, 199 {+4}; 77; 1
• Adams, 84 {+1}; 47; 1
• Audubon, 173 {+16}; 101; 1
• Guthrie, 423 {+5); 273; 15
• Harrison County, 703 {+8}; 330; 16
• Madison County, 376 {+3}; 269; 3
• Mills County, 429 {+9}; 218; 3
• Montgomery, 193 {+6}; 155; 7
• Pottawattamie County, 3,405 {+39]; 2,499; 45
• Shelby County, 408 {+12}; 340; 2
• Union County,  268 {+4}; 229; 4