The coronavirus continues to spread in Iowa, leading to stricter measures being taken in some regions of the state by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Marshall County’s COVID-19 case numbers have risen rapidly in the past two days to 75. The county is part of Region 1, one of the most heavily hit areas in the state.

The region is close to the possibility of stricter measures from the state –including a shelter-in-place order. Marshall County’s legislative representatives had different viewpoints on how the pandemic is being handled by the state.

Democratic State Representative Mark Smith said he is concerned by the lack of a shelter-in-place and the slower actions taken by the state.

“I’ve been concerned about it being incremental,” Smith said. “I would encourage everyone to shelter-in-place.”

Smith said from the start he had been pushing residents to shelter-in-place as much as they can and will continue to emphasize it as Iowa nears its expected peak in cases.

As for Marshall County specifically, Smith said his review of the county’s actions is mixed – especially as cases rise in the county. He said he was concerned about the Iowa Veterans Home as well since it would be especially vulnerable in an outbreak.

“I feel there’s been a good effort, but I am concerned,” Smith said. “I worry people need to do more to stay home as much as possible.”

Smith added that he’s been doing a lot of constituency work from home because “this is hitting home to our friends and neighbors.”

Republican State Senator Jeff Edler praised Reynold’s office for following Centers for Disease Control regulations and put more emphasis on the residents of Iowa and Marshall County to follow social distancing recommendations.

He was happy Reynolds took the step of waiving the start date for 2020-21 public schools to give school boards and educators time to prepare and adjust. He said it was a topic of much discussion in early meetings before the Assembly went into a forced recess due to COVID-19, and he said he pushed for it to be done as early as possible.

“My concern is the learning of the children,” Edler said. “So I was very glad Gov. Reynolds said that in today’s briefing.”

Elder said it was important not to blame anyone for not taking early enough action to prevent the virus from spreading in Iowa before it did – instead wanting to focus on the importance of learning from the experience and being more knowledgeable and prepared for the future.

“Hindsight is always 20/20,” Edler said. “We need to learn what we can from this.”

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Contact Noah Rohlfing at nrohlfing@timesrepublican.com