IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Public Health has released the identities of two nursing homes where outbreaks of the coronavirus have infected residents and contributed to a large share of the state’s known infections. The facilities were identified Tuesday as the McCreedy Home in Washington County and Premier Estates of Toledo in Tama County. Health officials had withheld that information from the public Monday. Those homes and Heritage Specialty Care in Cedar Rapids are the sites of the three outbreaks at long-term care facilities confirmed in Iowa. Under the state’s definition, that means three or more residents have tested positive.

Red Oak – Montgomery County Emergency Management is once again asking businesses and organizations to donate personal protective equipment (PPE) to assist health care providers, healthcare facilities and first responders who are actively responding to COVID-19.  Montgomery County Emergency Management Director Brian Hamman says “As the days and weeks progress, we continue to see a large amount of PPE used in order to protect our healthcare providers, first responders and residents of our long-term care facilities. This is an unprecedented time, not only for our local area but throughout the entire world and without your generous donations we wouldn’t be able to provide the services we’ve been accustomed to, both safely and effectively.”

The following items are needed the most at this time: eye protection such as safety glasses, medical rubber gloves of all sizes and cleaning wipes. Other health care PPE items that are welcomed are gowns, masks and face shields.

Montgomery County Emergency Management is also creating a COVID-19 Emergency Fund for any businesses, organizations or private citizens who wish to make a monetary donation towards the COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. The funds will be used immediately towards the purchase of additional PPE, equipment and any other items that are needed to help protect our local first responders and healthcare providers moving forward during this unique and challenging public health pandemic.

To make a donation of PPE or cleaning supplies, please contact Montgomery County Emergency Management at 712-623-3749 or bhamman@montgomerycoia.us  To make a monetary donation to the Montgomery County COVID-19 Emergency Fund, please mail all checks to Montgomery County EMA (COVID-19 Emergency Fund), 1906 N Broadway St. Red Oak, IA 51566

Atlantic, IA —Cass County Health System officials announced increased visitor limitations are now in effect at all CCHS facilities. This measure is being enacted to protect the health of patients, staff, volunteers, and visitors and to proactively limit the spread of COVID-19.

Effective immediately:

• Laboring mothers can have only one essential support person.
• End-of-life patients can have only one essential support person.
• Pediatric patients can have only one essential support person.
• Outpatients can have only one essential support person.

All essential support persons must be 18 years of age or older and in good health. They will be screened at the entrance before being allowed to proceed. If they do not pass the screening questions, then an alternate support person can take their place.

All other visitors, family members, and friends are encouraged to use technology to keep in contact with their loved ones.

Iowa Republican Governor Kim Reynolds today (Tuesday), updated the COVID-19 statistics. She mentioned (since the last report on Monday) there have been 102 new positive test results returned (for a total of 1,048), three new counties that have positive COVID-19 cases (Buena Vista, Delaware and Greene) for a total of 78**. There are 1,017 Negative test results, for a total of 1,670, and 1,690 test kits available in Iowa. 104 persons are hospitalized with the virus, 341 have recovered, and sadly, there was one additional death: an elderly person from Benton County. The death toll in Iowa now stands at 26.

Governor Reynolds said 11% of the positive COVID-19 cases are in long-term care facilities. **PLEASE NOTE: These are NEW cases and do not reflect previously announced individual county cases that are positive**

Area, County-by-County breakdown of confirmed (Positive) COVID-19 cases (This is as of 11-a.m. today, 4/7/20):

Harrison – 10

Shelby – 6

Pottawattamie – 9

Page – 3

Audubon, Guthrie, Dallas, Adair, Madison, Mills, Montgomery and Taylor Counties, all have 1 confirmed case of COVID-19.

The Iowa Department of Transportation’s District 3 Office reports replacement of a fire-damaged bridge deck on Interstate 29 at Perry Creek requires shifting northbound I-29 traffic to the southbound lanes with two lanes of traffic in each direction, and closing the northbound exit ramp to Hamilton Boulevard in Sioux City beginning at 8 a.m. Thursday, April 9, until Monday, June 15, weather permitting.

At 8 a.m. Saturday, April 11, the southbound I-29 exit ramp to Hamilton Boulevard will be closed to install a tower light. The ramp is expected to reopen to traffic at noon.

(Radio Iowa) — A clinical trial for an experimental COVID-19 drug is now underway at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. The hospital started enrolling patients last week to try Remdesivir [rem-DEH-sih-veer]. There have been promising results in lab tests, but it’s still not clear how safe or effective the drug is for people. Dr. Dilek Ince, a clinical professor of Infectious Diseases at the university, is leading the research team at the hospital. “In actual lab trials, in lab studies it’s shown to be very potent, very effective against multiple coronaviruses, including…SARS-coronavirus-2, the virus that causes COVID-19,” she says.

There are currently no FDA-approved drugs to specifically treat COVID-19. In the meantime, physicians and patients around the world are testing experimental treatments. Hospitalized patients can qualify the trial if they don’t have certain liver or kidney issues. Ince says patients are willing to try it, but they have questions. “Is it really going to help me? That’s hard to know, right?” Ince says. “So that’s why we tell them, ‘You know, under lab conditions it seems like this drug should help you, but that’s why we need the clinical trials because in the real world, we do not if it’s really going to help.'”

Patients who agree to participate in the trial will be given the drug being tested or a placebo for up to 10 days.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Kate Payne)

The Adair County Board of Supervisors will hold an dial-in/electronic meeting 9-a.m. Wednesday, April 8th.  On their agenda is discussion and/or action on: Homestead/Military Disallowances; An Adair County Fair Board TIF (Tax Increment Financing) Project Addition; and discussion with regard to letters complaining about wind turbine noise.

The Adair County Engineer will then present his regular activities report, and discuss their social media policy & Secondary Roads’ Facebook page. The final item of discussion pertains to an update on COVID-19. Persons wanting to attend the meeting must call (605)-313-6157, and use the access code 526272#.

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) — A judge has ordered DNA testing on a hat left at the scene of a fatal 1976 shooting that an Iowa inmate hopes will prove he has been wrongly imprisoned for decades. Judge John Wright ordered the hunting cap shipped to a Virginia laboratory for testing that could show whether Gentric Hicks or someone else was responsible for killing 28-year-old Jerry Foster at a Fort Madison motel.

Scientists will seek to extract genetic material from inside the cap to create a DNA profile that could be compared to Hicks. Results from the Bode Cellmark laboratory could be available in coming months. Iowa has never had an inmate exonerated by DNA evidence.