The Iowa Department of Public Health reporting two more people have died from complications of COVID-19. There are 118 additional cases, including three extra in Woodbury County for a total of 15 positive cases.
The statewide total of positive cases is 1,388.
Several staff members from the Sioux City Police Department did test positive for the virus. However, the PD isn’t releasing any more details.
A spokesperson says officers will still provide essential services and take precautions to prevent the spread of disease.
Iowa regulators ordered health care providers to take steps to address a shortage of personal protective equipment for workers treating coronavirus patients.
The Iowa Department of Public Health was issuing an emergency order with directives on what providers should do if they cannot get enough face masks, shields and gowns to provide standard care.
If they face shortages, providers are directed to use face masks that have expired, not change them for each patient encounter, use washable gowns and shorten hospital stays for coronavirus patients.
Siouxland Community Health Center has tested more than 200 people for COVID-19 so far. It started testing people in their cars two weeks ago.
So far, eight of the more than 200 tests have come back positive.
Kerry Patterson has been on the front lines almost daily and says it’s been hard to predict if someone has the respiratory disease just by looking at them.
Some people that come through that you can tell that they’re extremely sick, test negative. Then there’s other people that you think they look somewhat like they don’t feel well, and those are the ones that are positive.
The pandemic is projected to peak in Iowa in a couple of weeks. The health center expects they’ll be seeing even more patients each day by then.
In Nebraska, two more people have died from COVID-19, bringing the state total to 15. There are 577 positive cases.
Health officials in South Dakota added 89 additional cases for a total of 536. A half-dozen people have died.