Photo by Charlie Neibergall/AP, pool Gov. Kim Reynolds updates the state’s response to the coronavirus outbreak during a news conference at the State Emergency Operations Center Thursday in Johnston.

As Iowa reported yet another record in the number of newly confirmed cases of COVID-19, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Saturday that expanded testing is giving Iowans the “confidence that they need to feel safe in returning back to work.”

Retail shops and restaurants are reopening this weekend in 77 of Iowa’s 99 counties, and farmers markets and church services are being permitted statewide.

On Saturday, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported it had confirmed 757 additional positive cases of the virus, bringing the statewide total to 8,641. Saturday’s numbers topped those of Friday when the number of newly confirmed cases, 739, more than doubled the previous record that was set on Thursday.

Reynolds has said Iowans should expect to see larger numbers of positive cases this weekend as the State Hygienic Lab catches up on the expanded testing that was rolled out earlier in the week.

Reynolds appeared on Fox News Saturday and said she appreciates the recent order President Trump issued to keep meatpacking plants operating around the nation.

“We’re collectively working with our processing plants, we’ve been in constant communication with over 40 of our manufacturers and processing plants to make sure that we’re working with them to do, you know, additional testing, to make sure they have the PPE, to make sure that they’re putting all the efforts in place to make sure they’re protect their workforce,” Reynolds told Fox News host Neil Cavuto. “This is a critical and essential workforce.”

Asked about those Iowans who are fearful of contracting the virus by going back to work in the processing plants, Reynolds said more than 7,500 plant employees were tested for COVID-19 this past week.

“This really gives the employees, I think, the confidence that they need to feel safe in returning back to work with the proper PPE as well as the conditions in the facility,” she said.

She said because more than 80 percent of Iowa’s workforce is considered “essential” by the state, “we had a relatively small amount of businesses that were shut down” prior to the phased-in rollback of restrictions on business activity.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reported that 87 percent of Saturday’s 757 newly confirmed cases are in the 22 counties where comprehensive restrictions on certain businesses remain in place. A total of 493 of the new cases emanate from Black Hawk, Dallas, Polk and Woodbury counties.