Gov. Kim Reynolds announced during Thursday’s COVID-19 press conference she is implementing increased mitigation efforts in Regional Medical Coordination Center (RMCC) Region 6 in northeast Iowa. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH), the risk assessment as of April 16 for the region, which measures percent of cases requiring hospitalization, available beds and ventilators and other factors, reached a score of 10 and triggered additional restrictions for the more than 10 counties it contains, including Linn and Black Hawk. The order for Region 6 includes the cessation of all gatherings through April 30 with limited exceptions for funerals, weddings and other religious activities and mandates physical distancing for people when they are away from home. However, these measures fall short of a shelter-in-place order for the affected area. Two other regions, RMCC 5 and RMCC 1, which includes Carroll, Greene and Guthrie Counties, are rated as nines on the 10-point scale. The IDPH reports 146 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed Thursday morning, bringing Iowa’s total to 2,141. Seven additional coronavirus-related deaths were also recorded, marking 60 deaths to date. Iowa’s recovery rate is currently 46 percent with 987 patients falling into this category. Case numbers in the listening area are unchanged from Wednesday with Audubon, Carroll and Greene Counties with a single confirmed case to date. Guthrie County stands at three, Crawford with six and Shelby County with seven. For more information on COVID-19 in Iowa, follow the link included below.
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