DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The Iowa Department of Public Health is offering coronavirus testing for all employees of long-term care facilities in Tama County because of a rising number of cases in the region, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday.
The action followed a surge in cases at the National Beef plant in Tama, where 177 workers tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The eastern Iowa plant resumed production Monday after being closed for two weeks because the virus had spread among its workers.
Reynolds has frequently noted that a large percentage of those who have died from the virus live in long-term care facilities.
“By proactively conducting surveillance testing of long-term care facility employees in the area we do have the opportunity to isolate and identify positive cases early and potentially prevent exposing additional vulnerable residents,” Reynolds said.
The testing will be done Wednesday and Thursday, and officials expect more than 200 people to participate.
The Tama County testing came a day after Reynolds announced a $26 million program to dramatically increase testing across the state. That effort includes a social media campaign that encourages people to complete a health assessment at TestIowa.com.
Reynolds said more than 80,000 people had completed the assessment by Wednesday morning.
Those who have symptoms and meet other criteria will qualify for testing at free drive-thru locations. The first of those locations will open Saturday in downtown Des Moines.
There were 107 new confirmed coronavirus cases in Iowa as of Wednesday morning, bringing the state’s total since the outbreak began to 3,748, . There were seven additional deaths, bringing the state’s death toll from the virus to 90.
For most, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
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