Gov. Reynolds: Iowa schools to remain closed for remainder of school year

Gov. Reynolds announced in a news conference Friday morning that Iowa schools would remain closed for the remainder of the year.

'I would like nothing more and stand before you and tell you Iowa would be open for school in May,” she said, explaining she felt she could not do so because of the data available.

Districts will be required to prepare continuous learning for students until the end of the school year as planned, she said. The state will look into possibly starting school three weeks early in order to catch them up on lost time, she said.

Recent outbreaks were also on the governor's mind as she said 45% of the outbreaks have come from long-term care facilities in the state. However, the recent outbreak at the Tyson meat plants in Waterloo and Columbus Junction were large sources as well.

Testing at the Columbus Junction plant was expected to end Friday and 2,700 tests were sent to the Waterloo facility. The state hygienic lab would be testing them over the weekend, she said.

Locally, seven new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the Tri-County area Friday, April 17 according to the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH).

Three new cases and one death in Washington County brought the total to 109 confirmed cases and five deaths. Four new cases were confirmed in Henry County bringing the total to 26. The death toll remains at one. No new cases have been reported by the IDPH in Jefferson County.

In Washington County, 476 people have been tested and 68 have recovered from the illness. Henry County has 152 residents who were tested with 15 who have recovered and Jefferson County has 85 residents who have been tested and two have recovered according to the IDPH.

The total number of confirmed cases in the state is now at 2,332 with 1,067 people recovered, 64 deaths and 21,792 people tested.