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Iowa early News Headlines: Tue., May 19, 2020

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May 19th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

ATLANTIC, Iowa (KJAN) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office is asking for your help in locating a juvenile female reported a missing from Griswold. Tawni Liddell was last seen at her residence in Griswold, late May 17th or early May 18th.  Anyone with information on Tawni’s whereabouts is asked to contact the Cass County Sheriffs Office at 1-712-243-2206. Tawni has connections in the Omaha, NE area. The girl is described as being 5-feet seven 1/2 inches tall, and weighing 140-pounds. She has green eyes, shoulder length light brown hair, and a mole on her upper left lip.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The coronavirus has sparked concerns about how private medical information is being used. An Associated Press review shows that health officials in at least 35 U.S. states are sharing the addresses of those who test positive for coronavirus to first responders who request it. Ten of those states also share names. Law enforcement officials say first responders use the information to take extra precautions that help them avoid contracting and spreading the disease. But civil liberty and community activists have expressed concerns of potential profiling in African American and Hispanic communities that already have an uneasy relationship with law enforcement.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Regulators declined to inspect an Iowa pork plant after receiving a complaint alleging insufficient efforts were being made to halt the spread of the coronavirus. One state senator says that decision failed workers and allowed an outbreak to grow. An April 11 complaint to the Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Administration says employees at the Tyson Foods plant in Perry, Iowa, worked “elbow to elbow” and that social distancing was near impossible. Records show Iowa OSHA waited nine days before contacting Tyson, which took eight days to respond. The agency described Tyson’s voluntary safety efforts as “satisfactory.” A week later, the state announced 730 workers tested positive.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Public health officials are reporting two cases in Iowa of a new inflammatory disease in children associated with coronavirus infections. State Epidemiologist Dr. Caitlin Pedati said Monday the state learned of two potential cases on Friday in children in eastern Iowa. They are stable and state officials are working with local officials to learn more. The condition was highlighted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week as a newly identified inflammatory syndrome in children. Also, Iowa public health data released Monday indicates that the rate of coronavirus deaths have slowed to 19 in the last three days after surging last week.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Advocates are raising money to pay for the burial of a 36-year-old Congolese refugee who died of the coronavirus earlier this month in Des Moines.Embarc Iowa, a refugee services organization, said that Wiuca Iddi Wiuca died May 4 after a sudden illness and two weeks in the hospital.The group says advocates need to raise thousands of dollars to have Wiuca buried this week at an Ankeny cemetery, adding that a traditional burial in the Congolese community is extremely important. Wiuca leaves behind two adult siblings who, like him, were resettled to Des Moines last year from a refugee camp in Tanzania. They had fled war in Congo in 1996.