Atlantic, IA – COVID-19 is a new virus and many Cass County residents aren’t sure how to know if they have been infected, and if they have, what they should do about it. With so much information available on the internet, and not all of it accurate, Cass County Public Health reminds residents the statewide COVID-19 information line is available at 2-1-1 to answer these kinds of questions.

“We are learning more about COVID-19 each day,” said Cass County Public Health Director Beth Olsen. “We want to provide the most accurate information we have to help slow the spread of the virus in our county and protect our most vulnerable residents.” Here are some of the most frequent questions public health has received:
What are the symptoms of COVID-19?
The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, and shortness of breath. These symptoms may appear 2 to 14 days after exposure to another infected individual. Other symptoms include chills, muscle pain, sore throat, or new loss of taste or smell.
What should I do if I have these symptoms?
It’s important to know that 80% of people who get COVID-19 will have mild to moderate illness – similar to a bad cold, and some people may not have any symptoms. If you feel mildly ill, take these steps:
• Stay home. People who are mildly ill are able to recover at home.
• Treat your symptoms as you would any respiratory virus. Drink fluids, rest and treat your cough with over-the counter medication.
• Call your health care provider before you go into the office. Your provider will determine if you should be
tested.
• Separate yourself from others in your home. You can spread the illness, even when you’re mildly ill, so to
protect others in your household, try to stay away from others as much as possible. The majority of cases in
Iowa were due to household contact spread.
Who should be tested?
To learn if you have a current infection, viral tests are used. But not everyone needs this test. If you have symptoms of COVID-19 and want to get tested, call your healthcare provider first. You can also take an online assessment at testiowa.com to see if you qualify for testing at a Test Iowa site.

If you test positive for COVID-19 by a viral test, follow the instructions given to you by your healthcare provider. Cass County Public Health will also call you for the purposes of contact tracing, to investigate who you were in close contact with recently so that those individuals can be notified and self-isolate to help prevent further spread of COVID-19.

If you test negative, you probably were not infected at the time your sample was collected. However, that does not mean you will not get sick. The test result only means that you did not have COVID-19 at the time of testing.
Are people in Cass County being tested for COVID-19?
Yes. As of May 14, there have been 236 people tested at Cass County Health System. People may also be tested at other medical facilities, at a Test Iowa site, or at long-term care facilities and nursing homes.
Are other counties testing more than Cass County?
By looking at the available data from coronavirus.iowa.gov, as well as what is being reported at the county level, Cass County’s testing rates are comparable or slightly higher than other counties that have low levels of positive cases. Some counties have much higher testing numbers because of surveillance testing being done due to an outbreak at a meat packing plant or long-term care facility, or because they have a Test Iowa site.
Now that things are reopening, do I still need to wear a mask? I’m not sick.
Yes. We encourage you to wear a mask, practice good hand hygiene, and practice social distancing— keeping at least 6 feet of distance between people—whenever possible. Wearing a mask helps keep your germs away from others, which is really key to preventing spread because some people who get COVID-19 never develop symptoms but can still spread it to others. By wearing a mask, you’re demonstrating concern for those around you. The other advantage to wearing a mask is that it keeps you from touching your face. By keeping your hands away from your eyes, nose, and mouth, you are decreasing your risk of infection. Remember to wash or sanitize your hands before wearing and after removing your mask, too.
Where can I get a mask?
Cass County Public Health has some cloth masks that we are a happy to give to those who need one. Our office is located at 1408 East 10th Street, which is just across the street from the employee parking lot at CCHS. There are also sewing and no-sew instructions on cdc.gov if you want to make your own.
What are N95 masks? Should I get one and wear it?
An N95 respirator is a respiratory protective device designed to achieve a very close facial fit. The N95 designation means that when subjected to careful testing, the respirator blocks at least 95% of very small particles. If properly fitted, the filtration capabilities of N95 respirators exceed those of face masks. For the general public, an N95 isn’t necessary because without proper fit testing, the respirator may not be as effective as intended. Even health care workers generally only use an N95 respirator during certain procedures; the rest of the time they would wear a standard surgical mask. And remember, wearing a mask is about keeping your germs away from others, so wearing any mask and practicing social distancing is the best way to protect those around you.
Who is at most risk for serious complications of COVID-19?
Based on currently available information and clinical expertise, older adults and people of any age who have serious underlying medical conditions might be at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Based on what we know now, those at high-risk for severe illness from COVID-19 are:
• People 65 years and older
• People who live in a nursing home or long-term care facility
• People of all ages with underlying medical conditions, particularly if not well controlled, including:
o People with chronic lung disease or moderate to severe asthma
o People who have serious heart conditions
o People who are immunocompromised
o People with severe obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 40 or higher)
o People with diabetes
o People with chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis
o People with liver disease

If you have additional questions, call the 2-1-1 COVID-19 information line. For up-to-date information on COVID-19, visit the IDPH webpage at https://idph.iowa.gov/Emerging-Health-Issues/Novel-Coronavirus and follow the department on Facebook at @IowaDepartmentOfPublicHealth and on Twitter at @IAPublicHealth.

The Mills County Emergency Management Agency, today (Thursday), provided an easy-to-read summary of what will be changing Friday, with regard to Iowa’s COVID-19 Emergency Declaration, including the easing of restrictions on certain businesses. (see the graphic below)

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, today (Thursday), touted in her press conference, the achievements of COVID-19 testing organized through TestIowa.com.

Reynolds said more than 400,000 assessments have been completed over the past 23 days on TestIowa.com.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, right, updates the state’s response to the coronavirus outbreak during a news conference at the State Emergency Operations Center, Thursday, May 14, 2020, in Johnston, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, Pool)

More than 4,300 people have been tested, and over 4,000 Iowans have been notified of their results.  The latest drive-thru test site opens Saturday in Storm Lake. The other eight sites are in Des Moines, Sioux City, Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Denison, Davenport and Ottumwa.

She said with the validation process achieved, the State will be opening up the parameters for who can qualify for testing, and soon process 3,000 tests per day as originally envisioned.

In an update to our reports Sunday morning, the Cass County Sheriff’s Office today (Thursday), said two people were injured in a rollover accident that took place at around 6-a.m. Sunday. According to the investigative report, a 2004 Chevy Colorado driven by 25-year old Garett Jameson,of Fontanelle, was traveling south on 690th Street, just north of Tucson Road, when a deer entered the road and made contact with the pickup truck.

The vehicle left the road and rolled over. Jameson, and his passenger, 22-year old Brittney Green, were transported by ambulance to the Adair County Memorial in Greenfield. Damage from the accident amounted to $10,000.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — More than 16,700 Iowans filed unemployment claims last week in the wake of efforts to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. A report released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed 16,735 new claims filed between May 3 and May 9. That was drop from the previous week, when nearly 25,000 Iowans filed unemployment claims. The new report came in the same week the state began to allow the reopening of some businesses that had been closed to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Nationally, nearly 3 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds’ Thursday press conference on COVID-19. We will have live audio of the presser on KJAN as well. The press conference is scheduled to begin at approximately 11:00 a.m.

In their daily COVID-19 update, the Iowa Department of Public Health today (Thursday), said 12 people had died from the virus over the past 24-hours, for a total since March, of 318. The number of Iowans who have tested positive for COVID-19 increased by 386, to a total of 13,675, or 15.6%.  The total number of Iowans that have been tested is 89,294.

Officials say 42 Iowans were admitted to a hospital since for treatment of the virus, for a total of 405. 134 COVID-19 Patients are in an ICU, 93 patients are on ventilators. And, 6,231 Iowan’s are recovering from COVID-19. And, there have been 2 new LTC facility outbreaks, for a total of 35.

Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is part of a bipartisan group pushing to get some of the federal pandemic response money directed to local media outlets. She says “The federal government, if we are supporting different efforts to get information out, those are the sources of information your communities will go to, those local newspapers, local TV stations, local radio stations.” Ernst says the group has asked federal agencies to spend money allocated for public service announcements about COVID-19 with local media.

“If the federal government is contributing to media to support our efforts to fight COVID-19, then it should be going down to the very people that are most connected to their audience and their communities,” Ernst says, “and that would be local media.” In addition, local radio and T-V stations and local newspapers with a small staff cannot qualify for the Paycheck Protection Program if they are owned by a larger company with more than 500 employees.

The Local News and Emergency Information Act Ernst is co-sponsoring would make those local stations and publication eligible for the program.

(Radio Iowa) — As more businesses reopen in Iowa, a supply chain management expert at Iowa State University predicts more disruptions and shortages are coming, much like we saw with toilet paper and cleaning supplies in recent weeks. Scott Grawe, associate dean of the I-S-U College of Business, says rebounding from the coronavirus pandemic won’t be as simple as switching on the neon “OPEN” sign. “One of the challenges a lot of these businesses are going to face is trying to figure out how many people are going to be coming back into these businesses,” Grawe says. “Whether it’s a restaurant or a retail business, as they try to predict their inventory levels and what they’re going to need to serve their customers, there’s a great deal of uncertainty and uncertainty is one of the biggest enemies to an efficient supply chain operation.”

A few months ago, demand for toilet paper and cleaning products in Iowa and nationwide was quite steady. With the sudden spike in demand, those items quickly became almost impossible to find. While some of the hysteria has died down, Grawe says significant problems remain in the supply chain, especially with toilet paper. “One of the supplies that goes into creating toilet paper is recycled office paper and as people spend less and less time in their physical offices, there’s less recycled paper to be used,” Grawe says. “They’re not just necessarily dealing with a demand issue but they’ve got a supply issue as well.”

Like with the run on toilet paper, Grawe says it’s very difficult to predict consumer behavior. While there’s much outcry for restaurants and retailers to reopen, he says it’s not certain whether customers will return — and oversupply could rapidly become a problem. “Although there’s a huge demand for these restaurants to open back up, if the people don’t actually show up and if they’re a bit more nervous about setting foot inside those restaurants, restaurants could be forced into a situation where they’ve ordered more food than what they’re actually able to deliver and sell to the customers,” Grawe says. “That’s a big investment that they’re not going to be able to get their return on.”

Since there are no case studies and there’s no past experience to help guide this recovery, Grawe says it’s very difficult to predict what new troubles may loom. Grawe says, “Supply chains thrive on predictability and yeah, there’s a lot of uncertainty with regard to what the next thing, what the next ball to drop might be.” While it’s hard to see farmers leaving vegetables to rot or dumping milk, when food pantries are seeing record demand, Grawe says it’s often the most cost-effective option. Donating milk or produce to those in need isn’t so simple, Grawe says, as most food banks aren’t set up to take in huge quantities, especially food that needs temperature control.