(Radio Iowa) – The state’s coronavirus website listed 17-hundred-74 new cases of Covid from test results confirmed from mid-morning Friday through mid-morning Sunday. Twenty-eight deaths from Covid were reported to the state during that time period. Public health officials are urging Iowans NOT to take a holiday from pandemic protocols. Wapello County Public Health director Lynelle Diers says there was a surge in cases around July 4th and she’s hoping people don’t let their guard down at Labor Day events.

“Please wear a mask and also social distance as much as possible,” she said. “This is not the time to be hugging people you haven’t seen for six months because now you’re hugging everybody else they’ve been with the last two weeks.” Diers is among those who do the contract tracing after someone tests positive in Wapello County.

“I’ve heard the people say, ‘Yes, somebody died. I was at the funeral.’ Guess what they do at the funeral? They hug each other at the funerals and then they contract Covid,” Diers says. “…After July 4th it became reality for my small agency, the number of people that tested positive for Covid because they wanted to go party.” The number of patients admitted to intensive care units in Iowa hospitals is rising. Eighty-three were admitted to an I-C-U over the weekend.