Iowa marks its deadliest coronavirus day yet; a 57% jump

Iowa’s coronavirus death toll jumped by 57% in the last 24 hours, an increase from 14 to 22.

It was the single-deadliest day so far for the state where Gov. Kim Reynolds has pushed back against national calls that she issue a statewide stay-in-place order.

Iowa is one of just a handful of states where governors have so far not issued a statewide or partial stay-at-home order, according to tracking by the New York Times.

Nationally, at least 9,300 people have died.

► More:The latest on the coronavirus outbreak in Iowa

Reynolds’ administration is using a 12-point scale that weighs age, hospitalization, population and long-term care outbreaks to determine if and when a shelter-at-home order is necessary, according to documents made public last week.

A stay-at-home order would require Iowa reach at least 10 points in any one of six regions in the state. A map released Thursday showed the highest score was a seven.

The governor’s staff did not immediately respond to questions Sunday about whether the latest deaths will result in her ordering a partial- or statewide stay-in-place order.

Reynolds maintained that Iowa did not need a shelter-in-place order, saying Thursday she has already enacted many of the measures associated with a stay-at-home order but has "just done it in an incremental fashion."

The governor has not scheduled press conferences to speak about cornonavirus over the weekend. She continued to defend her call Friday despite a unanimous vote by the Iowa Board of Medicine that she issue a stay-at-home order.

► More:Updated COVID-19 maps and charts track cases and data in Iowa and across the U.S.

And she said Dr. Anthony Fauci — one of the nation's key figures in its coronavirus response — "maybe doesn't have all the information" about Iowa's mitigation efforts when he said last week that he doesn’t understand why all states haven’t issued the orders.

"There is still some disconnect on what we've done and what the expectations are and actually what's taking place and other states across this country,” Reynolds said Friday.

Iowa saw an almost 11% increase in the number of positive cases of coronavirus Sunday — from 785 to 868 — according to a news release from the Iowa Department of Public Health.

More than 10% of all positive cases in Iowa are occurring among long-term care staff and residents. And more than 40% of all deaths in Iowa are associated with outbreaks in long-term care facilities, according to the health department.

Those statistics underscore that coronavirus poses the most risk for older adults with chronic health conditions, resulting in more severe illness and death, the department’s Sunday press release said.

Reynolds has ordered many businesses to close, and recommended schools close. She has also limited gatherings to 10 people or fewer, and asked businesses to let employees work from home when possible.

The governor’s proclamations have been necessary to slow the spread of the disease but more can be done, the medicine board said in its letter to Reynolds on Friday. The public may be confused about what it means to use social distancing and following the vast majority of other states in issuing a stay-in-place order would strengthen and enhance the efforts, the board said.

“We’re not trying to bully her or strongarm her,” Warren Gall, a doctor from Dubuque and medical board member, said Sunday. “Our intent is to tell the public that the medical profession is really quite concerned about the severity of this pandemic.”

Gall was appointed in 2017 by former Gov. Terry Branstad and Reynolds, who was lieutenant governor at the time. Gall believes a shelter-in-place order could further educate the public and help avoid large gatherings like those in Florida last month during spring break.

“We’re not trying to go over her head. We’re trying to reinforce that this is real serious,” Gall said.

Sunday's additional deaths:

• Appanoose County, 1 elderly adult (81+)
• Johnson County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)
• Polk County, 2 older adults (61-80 years), 1 elderly adult (81+)
• Linn County, 1 elderly adult (81+)
• Scott County, 1 elderly adult (81+)
• Washington County, 1 older adult (61-80 years)

Jason Clayworth is an investigative reporter at the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-699-7058 or jclayworth@dmreg.com.

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