President-elect Joe Biden is tapping former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack for a second stint as the U.S. Agriculture secretary. Vilsack served eight years as the agriculture secretary under President Barack Obama and has been a longtime supporter of Biden
Iowa public health officials have posted another 99 coronavirus related deaths, raising the state’s death toll to 3,120. The state this week modified the methodology for counting COVID-19 deaths. That change added 399 deaths to the total this week. Positive cases increased by 2,246 today pushing the state total over a quarter of a million. However, hospitalizations and new positive cases have been trending lower, giving health care officials hope that Iowa may have avoided a post-Thanksgiving surge. Concerns remain around Christmas and New Year holiday gathering activities.
Siouxland District health says today there have been 107 cases added to the total case count in the last 24 hours. Woodbury County is still experiencing significant community spread of COVID-19
MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center and UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s are reaching out to the business community to ask for their help in combatting COVID-19. The hospitals are asking business owners to require employees and customers to wear masks while in the shops.
And UnityPoint says today it is raising the minimum hourly wage of its workers to $15 an hour. The pay increase goes into effect in January. Workers in housekeeping, food service, nursing assistance and other clinical support roles, are most likely to benefit.
