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Gov. Reynolds Says All 99 Counties Will Be Able to Open Most Stores Friday

The state of Iowa will open up significantly this Friday. Governor Kim Reynolds made that announcement this morning at her coronavirus news conference.  The opening includes most businesses excepting bars and casinos.

However, social distancing, and wearing a mask if your are not six feet away from others will be required.  Anyone who has been in close contact for more than 30 minutes with a confirmed positive case, also needs to continue to self-isolate for 14 days. 

Today public health officials announced 377 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Iowa,  bringing the total number of cases to 13,289.

There were also 17 additional deaths.  In Woodbury County, Siouxland District Health reports that there were two additional deaths, and 50 new positive coronavirus cases, as the total number of confirmed infections passed 2,000. 

The county's COVID-19 death toll now stands at 15. 

The Iowa Legislature has again pushed back plans for reconvening its 2020 session, which has been interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Lawmakers suspended their session March 16 for 30 days as part of the effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health of legislators, staff and the public.

After pushing that back until this Friday, the Legislative Council now plans to vote to wait until June 3 to resume its in-person work at the Statehouse in Des Moines.

Suspending the session was necessary to ensure the state’s health care infrastructure was not overwhelmed, according to Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver of Ankeny.

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