Thursday marked the highest single-day death toll Woodbury County has yet seen from the virus. There were three additional deaths attributed to COVID-19 recorded in Woodbury County. Seven lives in the county have been claimed by the virus to date.
Dakota County reported two more deaths for a total of 5.
However, at her daily coronavirus news conference, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds defended her decision to allow Woodbury county to open some retail businesses.
Reynolds said they will operate at 50 percent capacity. The governor also said shopper need to continue to practice social distancing.
Reynolds compared the visits to retail stores to going to the grocery stores saying it was a fairness issue statewide.
Siouxland District Health Department says the three deaths reported today from the coronavirus included a woman between 61 and 80 years old, a man in that same age range and a woman over age 81. All three reportedly died at local hospitals.
The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 655 additional COVID-19 cases for more than 11,000 confirmed cases.
There are a dozen more deaths for a total of 231.
The state has changed its reporting timeframe, so the latest numbers represent about one-and-a-half days worth of data.
Tyson Foods reopen its Dakota City, Nebraska, beef plant on Thursday after closing the facility following a surge of cases among workers.
Tyson closed the plant Friday and initially planned to reopen in four days but pushed that back to after awaiting test results.
The plant employs 4,300 people.
The City of Sioux City plans to keep facilities closed. The City still remains in business but local buildings and parks are still off limits to the public. Local leaders will review their policy on May 15th. Local trails are still open.
It’s the end of an era for the Catholic Globe Newspaper. The Diocese of Sioux City announced the last Catholic Globe will be printed on May 21st.
The publication will be renamed “The Lumen”. Readers will continue to receive a newspaper either in print or through an E-edition.
They will add two free electronic newsletters in English and Spanish. The Diocese says about 40% of Catholics in the region speak Spanish.
Lumen Media will also continue a strong presence on social media. The first official newspaper for the Diocese was printed in 1949. The first Globe came out four-years later.