The Mills County Sheriff’s Office today (Friday), said 28-year old Zackery Mount-Gallett, of Carter Lake, was arrested Wednesday morning at the Pottawattamie County Jail. Mount-Gallett was taken into custody on a Mills County warrant for Failure to Appear. His bond was set at $5,000. And, the Union County Sheriff’s Office reports 26-year old Michael Steven Cox, of Des Moines, was arrested on a Union County warrant for Probation Violation. Cox turned himself-in to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, and was transported to Union County, where he was being held without bond until making an initial court appearance.

(12-p.m. News, 4/3)

(Radio Iowa) — Doctors from the University of Iowa Hospitals says they are ready if there is a surge of people who would need coronavirus treatment in the intensive care unit. Doctor Brooks Jackson says the postponement of elective surgeries helps in their ability to handle such patients. “The good news is, even with normal every day capacity — we still have I-C-U capacity — so we are nowhere near our regular 90-95 percent occupancy that we would normally have,” Jackson says. Jackson is the dean of the U-I’s Carver College of Medicine. He gave an update on the planning to the Board of Regents during their recent on-line meeting.

“We’ve created a surge plan that would be able to take us over normal operations. Our normal operations as you guys are aware is 90 to 95 percent occupancy of 850 beds. We have the ability — and we have developed a plan to staff an incremental 100 to 150 beds to serve Iowans in the face of a surge,” according to Jackson. Jackson says they will convert medical-surgical units into I-C-U’s and then use recovery units for other rooms. He says they have ventilators and the ability to convert anesthesia machines into ventilators. But Jackson says having the rooms and equipment isn’t the most important part of the equation — it’s having the proper staff to operate an I-C-U.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Human Rights report, due to the Covid-19 virus and the State of Iowa Public Health Disaster Emergency, the IDHR’s Division of Community Action Agencies, has extended the application period for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) through May 31, 2020.

Iowa families are facing many challenges to cope with the Covid-19 virus. Some have lost jobs or had their hours of employment reduced. These circumstances could lead to difficulty in paying your utility bill. If you find yourself in that situation, there is help available through the State’s network of local community action agencies that have offices in all 99 counties. Families can apply for the Energy Assistance program at their local community action agency. This program can help pay a portion of an eligible household’s utility bill. Eligibility is based on household size and income. Anyone facing difficulty in paying their utility bill is encouraged to contact their local agency.

Community action agencies have other types of help available, such as food and clothing pantries, and other services. You can find a link to information about your local community action agency by going to the Iowa Department of Human Rights’ website at https://humanrights.iowa.gov/dcaa/where-apply.

DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has been notified of 85 additional positive cases of Iowans with COVID-19, for a total of 699 positive cases. There have been a total of 8,764 negative tests to date, which includes testing reported by the State Hygienic Lab and other labs. The latest cases were scattered through 31 counties, from Lyon County in the state’s northwest corner to Van Buren County in southeast Iowa. Polk County had 13 cases and Linn County had 14. The statewide total rose to 699 cases. No additional deaths were reported in Iowa.

The latest data show 80 people have been hospitalized with the virus, 58 who were hospitalized are recovering at home, while 415 were never hospitalized and are self-isolating at home. 11 people have died from the virus, which is unchanged from Thursday.

According to IDPH, the locations and age ranges of the 85 individuals include:

• Allamakee County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Clayton County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Clinton County, 4 middle age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Crawford County, 1 middle age adult (41-60), 2 older adults (61-80 years)
• Dallas County, 2 older adults (61-80 years)
• Dubuque County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Fayette County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Henry County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Jackson County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Jasper County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Jefferson County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Johnson County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 2 middle-age adults (41-60 years)
• Linn County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 2 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 5 older adults (61-80 years), 6 elderly adults (81+)
• Louisa County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Lyon County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Marshall County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Monona County, 1 elderly (81+)
• Muscatine County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• O’Brien County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Plymouth County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Polk County, 6 adults (18-40 years), 6 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Pottawattamie County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Scott County, 4 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 2 older adults (61-80 years)
• Shelby County, 1 older adult (61-80 years), 1 elderly adult (81+)
• Sioux County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Story County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
• Tama County, 3 adults (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Van Buren County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Warren County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
• Washington County, 2 adults (18-40 years), 3 middle-age adults (41-60 years), 2 older adults (61-80 years)
• Woodbury County, 1 older adult (61-80 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.

NOTE: There is not a positive case in Delaware County. After further investigation, the case is attributed to Linn County. Maps and other materials are updated.

Gov. Reynolds will hold a press conference today at 2:30 p.m. The press conference will be livestreamed and posted in full on Governor Reynolds’ Facebook Page.

A report at around 8:50-p.m. Thursday about a burglary in Council Bluffs, resulted in an arrest. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office say 25-year old Christian Edward Rexilius (No  city of residence listed), was taken into custody for: Burglary in the 2nd Degree [Breaking and Entering] (w/a person present – no injuries), Criminal Mischief in the 5th Degree (Destruction/Damage of Property), and Providing False ID information. His bond was set at $10,600 altogether.

And, a prisoner at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, NE., was transported to the Pott. County Jail this morning. 47-year old Steven M. Morlan was wanted in Pottawattamie County on a warrant for Violation of Probation.

(Radio Iowa) — State public health officials have drawn up a map that divides the state into six sections. They’re tracking COVID-19 developments in each area and the Iowa Press Citizen obtained the point system being used to determine if or when Governor Reynolds issues a shelter-in-place order. Dr. Caitlin Pedati, the State Medical Director, says a key factor they’re following is the number of outbreaks in nursing homes. “It’s important to keep that in mind because we’ve seen the experiences of other countries and other states,” Pedati says, “and how challenging it can be to care for those populations in those situations.”

Earlier this week, state officials revealed there IS an outbreak at a nursing home in Cedar Rapids, but on Thursday they declined to reveal whether there are outbreaks at other facilities. Other factors state officials are tracking are the percentage of people in each part of the state who’re over the age of 65 and the percentage of Iowans in each of the six zones who’ve been hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19. Governor Kim Reynolds says the analysis helps deploy resources. “We can identify where some of the hotspots (are at. Is it in a region?” Reynolds asks. “So we can focus in and make sure that we are getting the equipment there, we have a workforce, we have the surge capacity in place — so that we don’t overwhelm some of our hospital systems.”

State officials have now released the map showing these ratings to the public. It appears to divide the state based on which major hospitals would treat seriously ill patients in each region.  “As we learn more and we take a look at other assumptions and data that’s available, we’ll continue to monitor the situation,” Reynolds says. The map shows segments of eastern Iowa with a score of seven out of 10. A score of 10 would trigger a shelter-in-place order from the governor. Reynolds said earlier this week she might issue such an order for a region rather than for the entire state.

(In an update our earlier posted and on-air reports) – The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says a woman from Cumberland was injured during a rollover accident this (Friday) morning. Officials say 44-year-old Jennifer Lea Brisky was driving a 2005 Chevy Colorado pickup westbound on Lansing Road near the intersection with 680th Street (or, about half-way between Cumberland and Wiota) at around 6:49-a.m., when the vehicle went out of control due to the icy conditions. The pickup hit an embankment and rolled into the north ditch, where it landed on its top.

Authorities report Brisky was transported to Medivac Ambulance to the Cass County Memorial Memorial Hospital, in Atlantic.