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COVID-19

23 cases of COVID confirmed in school district

The first weekly COVID-19 update of the school year confirmed 23 positive cases among the Marshalltown Community School District. As of noon on Friday, 20 student cases have been confirmed with three cases among staff. Since the pandemic began, the highest number of weekly cases reported by the district has been 34 as of last November. On four other updates since the pandemic, the case count was 20 or more, happening three weeks in November and the first week of December. Most mitigation guidelines in effect this school year were also in effect last school year, but some adjustments ...

Iowa tops 1,000 new COVID-19 infections per day

Three more nursing home outbreaks of COVID-19 have been reported in Iowa in recent days, bringing the total number of care facility outbreaks to eight. The increased spread in nursing homes coincides with recent, rapid growth in the community spread of COVID-19 in Iowa. According to the New ...

Iowa mom sues Reynolds over banning mask mandates in schools

A Council Bluffs mother is suing Gov. Kim Reynolds and the state of Iowa over the law prohibiting schools from mandating face masks as a protective measure against COVID-19. Frances Mierzwa Parr is asking the court to order the state to issue a universal mask mandate for all students and school personnel, at least until districts can implement a plan to segregate mask-wearing students and staff from those who choose not to wear masks. The lawsuit, filed in Polk County District Court, also seeks temporary and permanent injunctions preventing the state from “issuing an anti-mask ...

Iowa attorney general evaluating legality of Iowa City mask mandate

One week after Iowa City issued a mask mandate, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller said his office is still researching whether the order violates state law. “We want to make sure we get it right,” Miller told reporters Thursday. “We do have a little time because there’s no penalty ...

Iowa sees virus surge

DES MOINES — Public health officials in Iowa’s largest county are sounding alarms that too few people are wearing masks and getting vaccinated as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations climb in the state to levels not seen since January. The surge of the COVID-19 delta variant comes as ...

COVID-19 continues to spread in Iowa

The spread of COVID-19 is continuing to ramp up in Iowa, with almost 2,200 new cases recorded on Saturday. Not surprisingly, the county with the lowest vaccination rate in Iowa is also the county with the highest number of new infections over the past week, when adjusted for ...