Pottawattamie County Planning and Development Director Matt Wyant, Sunday, issued a statement concerning COVID-19 contact tracing. Wyant said “Pottawattamie County Public Health is and will continue to contact trace all cases as COVID-19 makes a larger impact into our community. A part of contact tracing is assessing risk to the general public. If and when a risk to the public is identified, that location is publicized along with steps to take. With the recent increase in our cases, all risks have been assessed and contacts notified. The State of Iowa and Iowa Department of Public Health, along with several health departments, have identified community spread of COVID-19.

“With the identification of community spread came the Governor’s proclamations and restrictions on local businesses and workplaces. We are still in community spread and continue to identify cases that we can not trace back to a source, but it can be traced as to risk to the pubic and people around them.”

Wyant says all precautions should still be taken, such as social distancing, proper hygiene, limiting trips to the store and out in public to only the necessary. “This has been a long road, he said, “and I want to personally thank everyone in Pottawattamie County for their strength and perseverance in these unprecedented times. Pottawattamie County has been running about two to three weeks behind modeling data.” Wyant says ” We will see a increase in numbers in the next few weeks as testing increases in our area. We are as prepared as we can be, and we have great health systems in our area. The whole community is behind this effort to minimize the impact on our area and be as transparent as we can with the public.”

Members of the City of Atlantic’s Personnel and Finance Committee will meet 5:30-p.m. Wednesday, April 29th, during an in-person session, as opposed to via Zoom meeting. The meeting will take place in the Council Chambers, but attendance is limited to 10 people, and the six-foot separation policy will be adhered to. City Administrator John Lund says the City has acquired face masks available for those in attendance, if desired.

During the session, the Committee will hold an open discussion and take recommendations on, Human and Financial Resource changes resulting from Covid-19, along with any other business to come before them. Lund says “A lot has happened in the last 40 days. Things are rapidly changing in human resources and public finance. The City is staying on top of everything [it] can, but Council oversight of these two critical functions is essential [and] we need to have an opportunity for a question and answer period so the Council’s questions can be addressed directly and also make sure its priorities are being responded to by staff.”

(Radio Iowa) — The Republicans competing in the fourth district congressional primary say it’s time to begin rolling back the restrictions on businesses and gatherings that have been imposed during the pandemic. Steve King of Kiron is the incumbent congressman facing four challengers in June. King says he’s been most concerned about limiting the freedom to assemble.

“But I saw the emergency we were in,” King says, “and I personally decided I’m not going to throw that wrench into the gears because there’s a national crisis at work and I don’t want to undercut the people that are leading on this.” State Senator Randy Feenstra of Hull says this is a difficult situation for policymakers like Governor Reynolds.

“It’s a tough time,” Feenstra says, “and she is balancing all that needs to be done when it comes to our rights, our economy, our safety.” Bret Richards, a businessman who was the mayor of Irwin, says it’s time to rethink the emergency powers given to governors.

“A benevolent governor’s great now,” Richards says, “but what about a Chet Culver or someone else in the future?” Former Woodbury County Supervisor Jeremy Taylor says he’s concerned about restrictions on religious liberty in other states.

“We have to be very careful lest we go the way of the socialist left,” Taylor says. Steven Reeder, a real estate broker from Arnolds Park, says this situation shows why it’s important to elect people who follow the constitution. The five congressional candidates participated in an online forum Sunday evening that was hosted by Crawford County Republicans and broadcast by K-D-S-N Radio.

The operator of a motorcycle was transported by Crescent Rescue to the UNMC in Omaha, Sunday evening, after the cycle left I-29 northbound at Exit 61-A, and for reasons unknown, went out of control. The Iowa State Patrol reports 50-year old Billy Hannan, of Council Bluffs, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered critical injuries.

The accident happened at around 6:50-p.m.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:33 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s three major public universities are planning to resume in-person classes in the fall, but they are still working out the details of what that will look like during the coronavirus outbreak. Iowa Board of Regents President Mike Richards said the schools will follow state and federal guidelines to protect health as they develop plans for thousands of students to return to the campuses of the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and Northern Iowa University. The number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in the state. Health officials said Saturday the number of confirmed cases in Iowa had increased by 648, to 5,092, though the actual number of sick is thought to be much higher because of many people haven’t been tested.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa firefighter whose family has been devastated by the coronavirus says he wants people to know how easily the virus can spread. Twenty-nine-year-old Omar Martinez said Friday that his mother first tested positive for the virus on April 3. Then his 22-year-old sister Evelyn, who is the mother of a toddler, contracted the virus and has been in the hospital since April 10. On April 15, Omar says his 58-year-old father, Jose Gabriel Martinez, was hospitalized. He died on Tuesday. The family shares a home in West Liberty, Iowa, where they settled after immigrating from Mexico in the 1990s. Omar Martinez says, “I don’t wish this upon anybody.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The medical director at a state-run institution for people with intellectual disabilities has resigned amid questions about the care residents received at the Glenwood Resource Center in southwest Iowa. The Des Moines Register reports that documents from the Iowa Department of Human Services show that Dr. Mohammamd Rehman resigned Friday from the Glenwood facility. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating allegations that the former Glenwood superintendent was planning to conduct human sexual arousal experiments and had begun questionable hydration therapy on patients. The department also is looking into a death rate that concerned employees.

CHARLES CITY, Iowa (AP) — One person is dead after fire broke out at a home in northeastern Iowa. The Charles City Fire Department said the blaze was reported about 2:20 a.m. Saturday. Arriving firefighters found heavy smoke and determined the fire was confined to the kitchen area. The victim was found during a search of the home. Fire officials say the victim was alone in the home. An investigation determined that the fire was likely caused by cooking materials overheating.