The announcement came during Gov. Kim Reynolds’ daily news conference. 

“Today the Department of Public Health is sending a long term care facility strike team to Tama County where increased virus activity is in the area,” Reynolds said. “It could increase the risk of exposure of residents in surrounding communities.” 

The announcement came as 107 more positive cases of COVID-19 and seven more deaths were reported in Iowa.

Tama County has 225 confirmed cases and seven deaths.

t-r photo by john speer Tama County long-term care facility employees stand in a line dictated by social distancing guidelines and traffic cones placed by the Iowa National Guard while awaiting voluntary COVID-19 testing on the Iowa Juvenile Home / State Training School for Girls campus in Toledo on Wednesday afternoon. Gov. Kim Reynolds identified Tama County as one of the spots in the state where COVID-19 cases are on the rise in care facilities and meat processing plants during her Wednesday morning press conference.

The team will proactively test employees of long term care facilities to isolate cases early, Reynolds said. 

“A team of nurses with the support of the Iowa National Guard will conduct diagnostic and serological testing for all staff members of the long-term care facilities in the area,” she said.

Sarah Reisetter, the Iowa Department of Public Health deputy director, provided details about the testing in Tama. 

“There are still a lot of things we don’t know about this virus, but one thing we do know is it spreads quickly and efficiently through settings where people work and live in close proximity to each other,” Reisetter said. 

The Iowa National Guard will provide logistical support for the testing team and Iowa Department of Human Services nurses will conduct the testing. 

“The goal of this long term facility strike team is to offer COVID-19 testing to employees of long term care facilities,” Reisetter said. 

The testing is planned at a location off site from the care facilities in the area on Wednesday and Thursday. 

Reisetter said at least 200 staff members of long term care facilities will be tested. 

On Tuesday, Reynolds announced possible drive-through testing where people can get tested for COVID-19. The testing is part of the roll out of the TestIowa.com which is designed to help Iowans determine if they need to get tested for the virus. 

The strike team testing in Tama County is separate from the TestIowa.comt testing.

“It’s not open to the public,” Reynolds said. 

“These types of testing events are an important step in a continually evolving response to a global pandemic,” Reisetter said. 

——

Contact Thomas Nelson at tnelson@timesrepublican.com