ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — The city of Ankeny is asking for the public’s help to help protect essential city employees by making and donating protective cloth masks for workers. The city says in a written release that it’s especially concerned for the safety of public works, utilities, park maintenance and office staff.

The homemade masks would also go to fire, emergency medical staff and police officer to wear while in their stations in between calls. Those emergency responders will wear professional personal protection equipment while on calls where they come in contact with the public.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An investigator says the death toll tied to the coronavirus outbreak at a Cedar Rapids nursing home has risen to 14. Alisha Weber of the Linn County Medical Examiner’s Office says those who have died after contracting COVID-19 at Heritage Specialty Care “were all residents, as far as I know.”

State officials have said that at least 76 residents and employees at the long-term care facility have become infected _ about one-third of those who live and work there. But until now, state and local public health officials and the company that manages the facility had refused to say how many had died.

DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has been notified of 122 additional positive cases (as of April 11th), for a total of 1,510 positive cases. There have been an additional 1,057 negative tests for a total of 15,622 negative tests to date, which includes testing reported by the State Hygienic Lab and other labs.

According to IDPH, an additional 3 deaths were also reported.

• Crawford County, older adult (61-80 years)
• Johnson County, elderly adult (81+)
• Madison County, older adult (61-80 years)

According to IDPH, the locations and age ranges of the 122 individuals (NEW CASES) include:

• Allamakee County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Benton County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Black Hawk County, 3 adults (18-40 years), 3 older adults (61-80 years)
• Bremer County, 1 elderly adult (81+)
• Buena Vista County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Clayton County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Clinton County, 4 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Dallas County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Delaware County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Henry County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Jefferson County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Johnson County, 7 adults (18-40 years), 2 middle-age adults (41-60 years)
• Linn County, 2 adults (18-40 years), 3 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 4 older adults (61-80 years), 1 elderly adult (81+)
• Louisa County, 4 adults (18-40 years), 9 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Madison County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Marion County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Marshall County, 7 adults (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Muscatine County, 8 adults (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 2 older adults (61-80 years)
• Polk County, 9 adults (18-40 years), 2 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 5 older adults (61-80 years)
• Scott County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 5 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 6 older adults (61-80 years)
• Tama County, 3 adults (18-40 years), 3 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Wapello County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Washington County, 2 adults (18-40 years), 6 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Woodbury County, 3 middle-age adults (41-60 years)

A status report of monitoring and testing of COVID19 in Iowa is provided by IDPH and can be found here. In addition, a public hotline has been established for Iowans with questions about COVID-19. The line is available 24/7 by calling 2-1-1 or 1-800-244-7431. The state of Iowa has started sharing the number of negative tests conducted at outside labs, and is providing additional information on the conditions of those infected with COVID-19.

An airplane made a crash landing into a pasture early Friday afternoon in Fremont County, but there were no injuries reported. According to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Department, authorities were notified about the accident at around 12:40-p.m.  The aircraft sustained substantial front-end and wing damage when it crashed about four-miles north of Sidney.

Photo’s courtesy the Fremont County (IA) Sheriff’s Office.

Officials say the couple that were on-board the plane are from the St. Louis area. The pilot reported that there was a mechanical problem before the plane crash landed. The FAA is handling the accident investigation.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s office was assisted at the scene by Sidney Fire and Rescue.

Nick Johnson, Public Information Officer (PIO) for the Mills County Emergency Management Agency, said Friday, that on Thursday, April 9th, Mills County officials received notification through Iowa Homeland Security Emergency Management Division (HSEMD) that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had approved Mills County’s application through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP).

The approval is the next step in the buyout process for those individuals in the unincorporated area of Mills County that were affected by the 2019 flood.Property owners that signed up and were included in the application will be notified in the coming weeks by the Mills County Auditor’s Office.

Johnson says “As we enter into the next step of the process, property owners should anticipate a thirty to forty-five day time frame to receive an official offer to purchase.”

CORALVILLE – The Iowa Dept. of Corrections reports officials were informed Friday by a Correction Officer at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center, that their results from a COVID-19 test came back positive.  The department has implemented pre-established action steps and procedures for identifying COVID-19 contacts with staff and offenders and quarantining those exposed. The department is taking every appropriate measure to ensure that the impact on staff and inmates can be mitigated as much as possible.

The “adult” officer (age 18-40) began experiencing symptoms between Wednesday, April 8 and Thursday, April 9, and consulted with their medical provider who told them to take a test for COVID-19. The last day they were at work was Wednesday, April 8, which is when symptoms began to be present.

The officer is currently at home recovering. The department posts regular updates, as well as other information such as the steps the department has been taking to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on at doc.iowa.gov/covid19.

At this point, the department has not had any inmates test positive for COVID-19.