An Iowa Public Health Department official says the state did not contribute data to a federal report on coronavirus cases at the state’s meatpacking plants. The state says it did not have enough time to do so.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report this week that found 87 percent of workers who were infected at the plants were racial or ethnic minorities.
Iowa was one of six states that did not contribute data to the report.
Alex Carfrae (car-fray) of the state health department said it received the request on May 26 for data that was already publicly available. But the state did not have time to reformat the data in time for the CDC’s June 2 deadline as it was focusing on the pandemic response.
Carfrae says the department is planning to release the reformatted data at a later date.
Iowa is reporting 464 new cases of the novel coronavirus, with a total 33,313 total cases and 742 deaths.
Yankton County, South Dakota, and Clay County, Iowa, each recorded their first COVID-19-related deaths yesterday, while Crawford County, Iowa, tallied its third.
Yankton County reported one additional case of the novel coronavirus, bringing its total to 83 cases. Clay County added two new cases. Its case total stands at 143. Crawford County also registered one new case of the virus and now has a total of 679 cases.
Woodbury County has added 20 cases of COVID-19, with a total of 3,281 cases and 44 deaths.
Nebraska is reporting 20 new cases of the virus with a total of 20, 623 cases and 286 deaths.
South Dakota added 94 cases of COVID-19 for a total of 7,336 and three more people have died of the virus in the state, for a total of 101 deaths.
Bishop Heelan High School said yesterday in a statement that one of its baseball players tested positive for COVID-19.
Additional players did come into contact with the player and are in the mandatory 14-day quarantine, according to the statement. For now, the Bishop Heelan High School baseball teams will not play any games or practice.
The school will reevaluate all circumstances on M and determine at that time whether the season will progress for the team or not.
South Dakota health officials said yesterday they will send 20 COVID-19 testing machines capable of producing tests in a matter of minutes to help carry out the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The 80th edition of the annual rally is expected to attract thousands of people to western South Dakota next month. Previous estimates have found that the event draws in $800 million. Estimates show that around half a million people have shown up in previous years, according to estimates from the city of Sturgis. The city council decided to cautiously proceed with the 10-day rally, scaling back some of the events, after realizing motorcycle enthusiasts planned to show up regardless, the Rapid City Journal reported.
