(Radio Iowa) — Officials are advising Iowa nursing homes to take additional steps to protect residents and staff. COVID-19 outbreaks have been confirmed in nursing homes in Linn, Washington and Tama Counties. Sarah Reisetter, the deputy director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, says ALL Iowa nursing homes have been encouraged to screen every resident for fever and cough or breathing problems daily.

“If residents do become ill, those residents may worsen on day 7 to 8 of their symptoms,” Reisetter says. Every Iowa nursing home is urged to have a plan for who to call and how to transfer a resident who needs hospital care. Reisetter says there are new guidelines for nursing home staff, too.

“We are asking employees to use face masks and eye protection at all times for all resident care,” Reisetter says. “…We’ve asked them to consider gown and glove use at all times for all resident care to the extent the (personal protective equipment) is available, but certainly at facilities where outbreaks are being experienced.”

No visitors have been allowed inside Iowa nursing homes since March 10th, unless it’s an ‘end of life’ circumstance for a resident that’s NOT related to COVID-19. All staff must have their temperature taken at the beginning and end of their shifts.  “We’ve asked them to identify any other health care facilities where staff work, including recommendations that staff not work in other facilities, if possible,” Reisetter says, “and, at a minimum if they do need to work, to use a face mask and eye protection for all patient care in any health care setting where they may be working.”

Reisetter says state officials are making other recommendations, like moving residents who have COVID-19 symptoms to a single room and ensuring staff who care for them are not interacting with other nursing home residents. “So that dedicated staff are working with ill residents and not with health residents,” Reisetter says. There are more than 440 long term care facilities in Iowa.

Ten percent of all the Iowans who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 are either a nursing home resident or employee and nearly half of the Iowans who have died of COVID-19 have been nursing home residents.

(Radio Iowa) — One of President Trump’s top public health advisers spoke with the governors of Iowa and Nebraska Monday. Dr. Anthony Fauci said late last week that he did not know why all states’ governors weren’t issuing shelter-in-place orders. This is what he said early Monday evening.

“When I had mentioned that, I think there was a public response that they weren’t really doing anything at all,” Fauci said, “and they really are doing a very good job — both of them.” Fauci made his comments during the president’s news conference at the White House. Reynolds tweeted about her conversation with Fauci, saying the doctor told her and Nebraska’s governor they are on the same page with federal guidelines.

Fauci offered this analysis of Iowa and Nebraska’s COVID-19 closures:  “Just because they don’t have a very strict stay-at-home order, they have in place a lot of things that are totally compatible with what everyone else is doing.” Reynolds describes Fauci as “100 percent supportive” of the proclamations, orders and decisions she’s made thus far in the pandemic.

The Reynolds Administration is using a rating system to chart the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in each of six regions of the state. On Monday, it showed a large section of southeast Iowa was within one point of reaching the level at which Reynolds would order a regional shelter-in-place order.

(A-P BusinessWire) – Officials with Casey’s General Stores, Monday, announced an expanded partnership with DoorDash to provide delivery to 579 locations, seven days a week, across the company’s 16-state footprint. The new service will immediately offer delivery for Casey’s famous, made-from-scratch pizza, select appetizers and 20 oz soda. By end of April, dozens of grocery and household items will be added as Casey’s finds new ways to serve thousands of people sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Delivery hours will match each Casey’s store kitchen hours from morning to night, seven days a week. Additional grocery and household items such as candy, salty snacks and ice cream will be available from Casey’s through DoorDash starting in mid-April.

Guests can see if their hometown location is offering Casey’s delivery through DoorDash by visiting DoorDash.com or downloading the app on iOS or Android. For the latest delivery deals and pizza information, visit caseys.com or download the Casey’s app.

Pottawattamie County Public Health officials said Monday, an additional positive case of COVID-19 was returned from lab tests, bringing the county’s total to nine. The individual is a Council Bluffs woman between 41-60 years old who had contact with a known case. The woman has pre-existing medical conditions.

Officials say the woman was tested on April 1st and had been self-quarantining since then. On April 5th, she was admitted to Jennie Edmundson Hospital. Pottawattamie County Public Health said there are no known exposure locations. Health officials continue to conduct contract tracing investigations.

Of the nine cases in Pottawattamie County, three have recovered, according to the health department.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

COLUMBUS JUNCTION, Iowa (AP) — Tyson Foods said Monday that it has suspended operations at a major pork processing plant in southeastern Iowa where more than two dozen workers have tested positive for the coronavirus.Spokesman Gary Mickelson said the suspension went into effect on Monday at the plant in Columbus Junction. He said it will last for the duration of this week and be revisited at that point. Mickelson said the plant’s 1,400 workers would continue to be paid this week despite the furlough. He said the company was diverting livestock shipments that were scheduled to be delivered to Columbus Junction to other plants in the region, such as Waterloo and Perry.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds is ordering the closure of malls and playgrounds and urging Iowans to stay home during what she called a critical week for containing the coronavirus pandemic. Reynolds said at a news conference that local police would begin enforcing her order to bar gatherings of 10 people and that violators could be warned or cited. The more aggressive moves come after Reynolds faced intense criticism in recent days for refusing to issue a statewide stay-at-home order as the number of cases increases. Reynolds on Monday confirmed two more nursing homes have outbreaks involving at least three residents who have tested positive.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Police have identified a woman who investigators believe was intentionally run down by a driver and killed as she walked her dog in Des Moines neighborhood. Police say 38-year-old Lauren Rice and her dog, Holiday, were killed in the Sunday morning incident. Officers found Rice and the dog dead at the scene. Police say a pickup truck driven by 49-year-old Jason Robert Sassman jumped a curb, crashed through a utility pole and drove through several yards before hitting Rice and the dog. Police say Sassman continued on in the truck until it became disabled, then fled on foot before he was arrested. He’s charged with first-degree murder and animal neglect.

ATLANTIC, IA – Third District Democrat Representative Cindy Axne, Monday, launched a Virtual District Tour of the District, to survey and further assist response to the ongoing outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iowa. The tour, which launched with a conference call with leadership of the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) in Atlantic, will cover all 16 counties of Southwest Iowa that Rep. Axne represents.

Rep. Cindy Axne (D-03 District)

Over the coming weeks, Rep. Axne will hold virtual meetings with county emergency managers, health system leadership, local business owners, and other community stakeholders to survey the ongoing effects of COVID-19 on Iowa’s families and economy.

The launch of the Virtual District Tour follows two coronavirus telephone town halls held by Rep. Axne that allowed experts from the Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa Department of Human Services, and the U.S. Small Business Administration to connect directly with thousands of residents of Iowa’s Third Congressional District.