(Radio Iowa) — A few other states have announced hotels and convention centers are being converted into triage centers to deal with COVID-19 patients — and a top public health administrator in Iowa says discussions are underway here to determine how to manage patient flow. Sarah Reistter is deputy director of the Iowa Department of Public Health.

Reisetter says patients from rural counties with complex health conditions are routinely transferred to hospitals in some of the state’s larger metros and that’s likely to be the case with COVID-19 patients.

Governor Kim Reynolds says she is meeting regularly with the leaders of the state’s major hospitals as well as with representatives of the Iowa Hospital Association. Reynolds says each has a “surge capacity plan.”

Governor Reynolds and the public health department’s deputy spoke over the noon-hour during a news conference broadcast on Radio Iowa stations.

ADEL, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa college professor accused of murder in the gagging death of her husband has been released from jail because of concerns about the coronavirus. Dallas County Judge Michael Jacobsen had earlier refused to lower the $5 million bond set for Gowun Park, but the Des Moines Register reports that he agreed to reduce it to $285,000.

She posted the bond and was released Thursday. Park’s lawyers argued her bond should be lowered because the coronavirus pandemic risked her health and a ban on in-person visits hindered their ability to coordinate her defense. Park was an assistant professor of economics at Simpson College.

DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) said today (Friday), there are 56 additional positive cases of Iowans with COVID-19, for a total of 235 positive cases. There have been a total of 3,740 negative tests to date, which includes testing reported by the State Hygienic Lab and other labs.  The IDPH said also, two Iowans with COVID-19 passed away Thursday night, one elderly adult (81+ years) from Poweshiek County and one older adult (61-80 years) from Allamakee County. This brings the total COVID-19 deaths in Iowa to three.

According to IDPH, the locations and age ranges of the 56 individuals include:

Benton County,  1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
Black Hawk County, 2 middle-age adults (41-60 years)
Butler County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
Cedar County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
Cerro Gordo County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
Clinton County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
Dallas County,  1 adult (18-40 years), 1 elderly adult (81+)
Dickinson County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
Dubuque County, 2 middle-age adults (41-60 years)
Hardin County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
Harrison County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 3 older adults (61-80 years)
Henry County, 1 elderly adult (81+)
Iowa County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
Johnson County, 2 adults (18-40 years),  5 middle-age (41-60 years), 2 older adults (61-80 years)
Linn County, 3 adults (18-40 years), 7 older adults (61-80 years)
Mahaska County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
Monona County, 1 elderly adult (81+)
Marshall County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
Montgomery County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
Muscatine County, 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years)
Page County, 1 older (61-80 years)
Polk County,  1 adult (18-40 years), 1 middle-age adult (41-60 years), 2 older adults (61-80 years)
Tama County, 1 elderly adult (81+)
Washington County, 1 adult (18-40 years), 2 older adults (61-80 years)
Webster County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
Winneshiek County, 1 adult (18-40 years)
Woodbury County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
Wright County, 1 middle-age adult (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.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — District conventions for the Iowa Republican Party won’t be convening as usual, but voting will be conducted by mail as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The party said Friday that the State Central Committee has decided to mail paper ballots to all district delegates. A party spokesman says the paper ballots will allow the party to conduct conventions and proceed with important party business, including electing delegates to the state and national convention.

District standing committees are meeting via Zoom on Saturday to outline how the paper ballot process will work. Iowans can can go online for updates.

A traffic stop Thursday evening in Walnut, resulted in a pursuit and the arrest of two people. The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports Deputy Jeremy Harker tried to stop a 2008 Dodge Charger with Arizona license plates, at around 5:40-p.m. in the 46000 block of Highway 83. The vehicle refused to stop. It was later located parked behind the Embers Cafe in Avoca. The driver, 27-year old Patrick Allen Eggerling, of Council Bluffs, was located and arrested for Eluding and Reckless Driving. He was subsequently charged with Violation of a No Contact/Protective Order. His bond was set at $2,000. A passenger in the car, 23-year old Sarina Marie Duvall, of Phoenix, AZ., was arrested for Fraud in the 1st Degree, after she was found to be in Possession of several counterfeit $100 bills. Bond for Duvall was set at $5,000.

And, 32-year old Jeffrey Lee Wiebold, of Council Bluffs, an inmate at the Pott. County Jail, was presented with a warrant Thursday, for Violation of Probation. Wiebold was returned to the custody of Corrections staff.

(Radio Iowa) — Volunteers across Iowa are making face shields with 3-D printers to restock health care providers and first responders who are short on personal protective equipment. Earlier this week, Eric Engelmann of Cedar Rapids used social media to ask for help making the plastic shields and the response was immediate. Engelmann says hundreds of Iowans donated supplies and used dozens of 3-D printers to make parts. In a Facebook video, Engelmann shows off models already being delivered to first responders for feedback.

“This one is the one we’ve had most of the people printing,” Engelmann says. “This one’s pretty straightforward. It’s really just a visor with some foam in there to make it a little more comfortable with an elastic strap. And then it just sort of pops on.”  The team is gearing up to make thousands of face shields for the COVID-19 response. More information on how to help is available at: https://newbo.co/PPE/

(Reporting by Kate Payne, Iowa Public Radio)