Transcripts For CSPAN Iowa Gov. Reynolds Holds Coronavirus Briefing 20240713

198 of the 302 new positive cases are from walkout, dallas, lk counties. We have had an additional 14 islands that have passed away due to covid19. Today we had 1028 new negative cases for a total of 35 cows and 35,542. Over 46,000 total tests have been completed in iowa, and one in 74 islands have been tested. Iowans have recovered from covid19, for a recovery rate of 38 . Beginning tomorrow, restrictions put in place to slow the spread of covid19 will be eased in counties where there is low virus activity or none at all. To attendbe able at their sunday, eat local restaurant, or walk down main street if they choose. We should expect normal to look a little different, look and feel a little different for a while. Covid19 isnt going anywhere anytime soon. The virus will continue to be in our communities, and unfortunately people will still get sick until the vaccine is available. Keeping businesses closed for weeks or months longer wont change that fact, and it is not sustainable. It is not sustainable for iowans, their livelihoods, or our economy. We must all learn how to manage the virus in the course of our daily life. Iowas expanded testing, trace investigation, and capabilities give us of the tools necessary to isolate positive cases, track virus activity across the state, and continue to manage it for the long term. This enables us to take a measured and safe approach to iowas come back. And begin to get life and business back to normal in a safe and responsible way if we continue to Work Together and do our part. My team and i remain committed to doing what is best for iowas collective health. Our will continue to drive decisions, as it has from the start, and if we see virus activity stabilize and trend downward, we will know when and where we can continue to ease restrictions and will do so in a thoughtful and responsible way. And we will continue to educate iowans about the risk and ask you to continue to practice personal responsibility, so that together we can mitigate the spread of the virus as we continue to move forward. I want iowans to know that your health and safety and are our highest priority. Im also confident iowans will continue to do the right thing to protect their health and the health of others. Start to reopen and you begin to interact in public again, it is just as important that you take all the steps necessary to avoid exposing yourself and others to the virus. We know that covid19 spreads quickly and easily when people close christ proximity proximity, which is why social distancing continues to be extremely important. Whether you are out in public or in your own neighborhood, stay at least six feet between yourself and others. Simple hygiene is also a but highly effective way to reduce your risk of getting the virus. Wash your hands, cover your disinfect commonly used items frequently. Most people who get covid19, 80 will experience mild or and may notptoms require any medical attention at all. For the 20 of iowans who are at the highest risk of a severe covid19 has proved to be lifethreatening. Andr iowans the age of 65 anyone with preexisting Health Conditions could continue to stay home as much as possible avoidntinue to to go out. Limiting your time away from home also limits the chance that you will be exposed to the virus, and if you are experiencing any signs of illness, even mild symptoms, stay home. Call your doctor if you need medical attention and take the toessment at testiowa. Com see if you qualify. Need to take personal responsibility to slow the spread of the virus so we can continue to move forward. As some businesses prepare to open tomorrow, im many iowans are heading back to work. Thompsonked director to share information about our states unemployment claims and what iowans need to know if their Employment Status is changing. Director thompson . Numbert i will share the of initial claims that were 28,827. Is last week, the number of continuing weekly was also high, and a total of 102,714,000 was paid in federal pandemic Unemployment Compensation benefits to over 100 and 53,000 islands over 153,000 iowans. Of 4,810,992 was paid several thousand iowans as well. We havent lamented a change to our phone system, so when you number, after you make your menu selections, you will begin to hear music rather than wringing and silence. You will hear the music until your call is answered. This lets people know their call is thank you. Remain on the line and your call will be answered. I also wanted to address the situation the governor with individuals being recalled to work. We want to remind all individuals if you are recalled to work and choose not to return, you may lose eligibility for Unemployment Benefits in addition to losing your job. Fewndicated, there are a virus related exceptions, including if you are diagnosed with covid19 or are experiencing symptoms. If a member of your household has been diagnosed with covid19, or you are caring for an individual in your household with covid19. You or a member of your household are in a higher risk category and have been advised by your Health Care Provider to self quarantine due to concerns to covid19, you lack necessary childcare related to covid19, you cannot reach your place of employment because of the outbreak, or you have had covid19, have recovered, but it caused complications, rendering you objectively unable to perform the essential functions of your job. Additionally, if you are, for medical or age reasons, in the high risk category, you might benefits. R the pua talkcourage all iowans to to their employer prior to their return to work to understand the measures they are taking to ensure the safety of their employees and customers. We do have a provision in our unemployment code that allows an individual to quit a job if they feel that their workplace is unsafe, however it takes more than a mere assertion by the employee to establish this to be true. That employee establishes they had taken the necessary steps, such as following Industry Standard set by osha guidelines, providing extra allowing ors, providing ppe such as masker gloves, ands or following social distancing recommendations, it might be a good basis to quit due to safety concerns. As we have heard from the restaurant association, industries across iowa are adding more cleaning and sanitizing efforts above and beyond what they normally do in order to ensure the safety of their employees. Always employers have had strong motivations to create the safest working places and they are taking those necessary and additional steps to prevent the spread of the virus in their workforce. Motivation assame their employees to remain healthy and to prevent the spread of the disease, and win their efforts are combined with our personal responsibility to wash our hands, maintain social distancing, covering our cough and staying home if we feel ill, we can increase this beat of our recovery by getting people back to work in a safe and healthy environment. Gov. Reynolds thank you, beth. I want to thank you and your team for all that you have done to support so many iowans during this challenging time. You and your team have continued to show a remarkable job. Finally, i was Small Business owners have carried a heavy burden during these past several weeks as many have had a close their doors and let employees go. I am proud of the work the department of revenue and the Iowa Economic Development authority have done during this challenging time for the Small Business Relief Program. I am pleased to have Iowa Economic Development authoritys director with me today to provide an update around the program. Debbie . And thank youg, governor. Last month, Governor Reynolds challenged my team with creating a Small Business Relief Program that would provide critical, shortterm assistance for our Small Business is economically impacted by the Public Health emergency. On march 23, i was at this very spot as Governor Reynolds launched the iowa Small Business grant Relief Program with 4 million available for allocation. 11 Business Days after the program was announced, i was here again as we announced an overwhelming response to the program. We were able to increase funding for the program to 24 Million Dollars to assist more than 1200 Business Owners. I am the route to say that 18 Business Days after, we started drafting the program from the ground up. Businesses that were among the first to close their doors had stopgap, shortterm relief in their mailboxes. This provided rapid relief to Small Business owners, because we know that every day that goes by right now is a critical one for so many iowans. A wide array of Small Businesses that line the streets of communities in all 99 counties have been awarded Small Business relief grants for a total of approximately 50 million. We have several thousand additional eligible businesses and the applicant with and we are working the governor to assist as many of them as possible in reopening stronger than ever. Continue to make award notifications on an ongoing basis. A list of grant recipients is Available Online and is updated daily. I can tell you that the spirit of our Business Owners remains resilient, strong, and hopeful for tomorrow. Our team is fueled from the notes that have been pouring in from businesses all over the state, who are hanging on and will see us upon their reopening. Among the latest batch, you , floors, andrewery a print shop. A centera message from in Mount Pleasant i want to share with you. Like many Small Business owners, we port our hearts and dreams into our vineyard. The fear of what is going to happen is agonizing, to say the least. When i received a grant notification, it brought out all the emotion. It is a relief, as the Financial Assistance will help us in the short term. Hope, which we so desperately needed. We cannot thank you enough and hope you will stop by when we are once again open for business. I want to think Governor Reynolds for her continued and measured leadership and support for Small Businesses as we prepare to reopen iowa for business stronger than ever. Thank you. Thank you,ds debbie. Also, a heartfelt thank you to you and your team. This has been a huge effort and a really short amount of time and has made a Significant Impact on our Small Businesses across the state. As i mentioned earlier, covid19 is here to stay and we must learn to live with it. For now, doing something as normal as going to the store or going out to dinner might be foreign to us. You might even feel apprehensive about it. Each one will need to make the choice that is right for ourselves and our families, and that includes Business Owners who may not be ready at the open their doors, and that is ok. These are unprecedented times, and we are all learning how to manage covid19 for the longterm. As we have been since the beginning, we continue to say that we are all in this together, and i have no doubt that iowans will continue to rise to the occasion, Work Together, and continue to do the right thing. Tomorrow is a step forward for our state, so lets continue to be safe and responsible as we navigate the path ahead. With that, i will open it up for questions. [inaudible] sorry, question about the testing that we have been using with testiowa. What have you been told about the accuracy of the tests they are using before they brought the men, over the statistics you require of the accuracy of those tests . Are they showing a clear picture of the people being tested . Gov. Reynolds we are in the process right now of validating the process. Is located at our state hygienic lab. Testutah is in a regional hospital. We have the pcr testing in one another the testiowa in one. All stepsing necessary throughout the validation process to assure iowans that the results we are getting are accurate and what they should be. In addition to that, utahs testing right now, they have opened it up right now to anyone who wants to test. ,e are keeping ours very narrow so they are testing whoever wants to have tests. We are still in the validation process with the Iowa State Hygienic Lab and the doctor and his team. So youre not sure that the tests are valid gov. Reynolds we are sure, but we will validate that. We have to make sure they hit the criteria and we are in the process of doing that, and will be able to report that out once they are complete with the validation. They will be able to test both. Thate of the concerns was this test requires a higher amount of virus in a sample than what the cdc would recommend. Those thingsked out to make sure that these tests are going to be compatible to what you might get if you were getting a test from someone else . Be, reynolds they have to because they were fda approved. They would not have been able to be utilized and opened up in utah. They will look at some of what the positivity questions are. Going throughre our validation process based on the requirements that are put in place so we can ensure iowans that the tests that we are relaying to iowans are accurate and providing the information that we expect. As we get done, what we can do team,ng someone from the or the department of Public Health can report the process that they went through. But i can assure you that they are taking every measure and every step that they can to make sure that they are doing the validation process accurately and they can feel confident in the results they are reporting out to iowans. I am proud to have it at the state hygienic lab for that reason as well. Will the state release counting numbers that show positive tests, negative tests, does every like it day for the state . Gov. Reynolds we do. Doesnt the state release positive county data . Where you can get on the web and look at it by county . There is a Data Visualization on coronavirus at iowa. Gov that shows 24hour case counts and total counts i county. Is that not your question . Right now, it shows we will make an announcement later this weekend monday, so we will continue to enhance. We have gone through various iterations of we have Utilized Technology and gathered more data to try to make sure we are being transparent as we can with ions. If you go to coronavirus. , you see the number of cases, the number of deaths, the number of recovered is also listed, and you can show if you drill down into the different areas, it shows how many new cases not new ok. Ok, so there is a map. If you click on the map, you can see the total number of tests for county and the total number of positive tests for county. You have to do some math to figure out the negative test by currently, and the governors for shadowing, we will move to a new visualization that will show positives and negatives and include that negative information. You have to just do a little bit of math and the positive case counts by counting are available, both cumulatively as well as on a 24hour basis. Gov. Reynolds i have been looking at the other test side. That is my confusion, we are working in test sites and both. We hope to make that easier for iowans. Hospitals sending patients to omaha hospital due to the increases in Woodward County . Gov. Reynolds all of them have been working together to make sure they have a surge plan in ince, that we have a plan place with the number of icu beds and ventilators that are available. They are also part of larger affiliations in the des moines area that have been working with hospitals as well. That is some of the planning and the preparation that has been going on since we started with the pandemic to make sure we are prepared and ready. There still could be some possible bumps in all of that, but they have done some unprecedented quarantine unprecedented coordination and collaboration with hospitals to really walk through how we prepare and how we are ready to anticipate any type of a surge that we might see. That area has always worked very well. Very collaboratively with nebraska and south dakota as well. Those conversations are also taking place, to see how we can coordinate that as well. [inaudible] governor. We have heard from many viewers who say they have to care for vulnerable loved ones, but they also have to provide for them financially and they are afraid to go back to work in bring something back, but they are also afraid of being booted off unemployment and being unable to provide for their loved ones. What is your advice to iowans who feel like they are forced into making a serious choice either way . Director townsend gave a significant list of exceptions that address the that you just listed, but i will let beth walk again what some of those are. Townsend if you are taking care of a member of your family or household that has been diagnosed with covid19, you would still be eligible for pua claims. You would just let them know that you cannot return to work because you are providing care for a sick Family Member, contact your employer, and they will you know what documentation they would need to provide you relief to returns to work, but you would still qualify benefits, and that 600 weekly benefit. You will not be in a position if you are caring for a sick Family Member where you have to sacrifice your job or your benefits. [inaudible] youre a Family Member is in a high risk category and you are worried about bringing the virus home. Dir. Townsend that is something you need to work with your employer and the doctor of your Family Member regarding what kind of medical risks there would be, where you work, what kind of environment you would be being asked to work in, but you can work through those situations with your employer. If it is determined by the medical provider that you should not be returning to your home from outside, whether it is going to do anything or your place of employment, then you would qualify for those pua benefits as fpuc well. They also are trying to do whatever they can to be accommodating, that is the word i was looking for, to their workers, to accommodate the isolated circumstances. Will circle back to the questions being raised in utah about the accuracy of the tests. Do those concerns in the story in the Salt Lake Tribune worry you . Gov. Reynolds i found out about that story a couple minutes ago, but that is why we have testiowa located at the state hygienic lab. We are working with a team that has been very qualified, doing the pcr and serology testing for a long time. There are experts in that lab, and that is why they are validating the process to make we can tell i was that the results they are receiving are accurate. They are in that process right now. They are still ramping up and i feel confident we will be able to demonstrate that the iowans to iowans. Thank you. Governor, how soon will the state begin reporting results from those testiowa testings . Gov. Reynolds [inaudible] dir. Townsend we have a few of those results that have been included in our daily total so far. At this point in time, there is break outention to test iowa positive results, as taken fromer results other places. The test iowa results will be reported, rolled into a total positive number every day, and they will not be separately results as test iowa versus all other results as we move forward. We have time for two more questions. Morning, governor. Since tuesday, covid id rates have increased 23 and patients needing mechanical ventilation increased by 34 . Capacity is still in iowas health care system. Do you have any insight as to what might be going on here and you have a response to these recent increases . We are still monitoring that, and monitor that from a resource perspective to make sure we still have enough icu beds, ventilators to treat a surge in covid patients. We are seeing someone of an uptick in northwest iowa, so we are monitoring that. We are also seeing discharges as well as new patients move in, so it has kind of been a balance. We watch region by region as well as the overall state availability to events and beds so we continue to monitor that and work with our publicls through local health and just to do outreach with them to make sure they are getting what they need. Ok, caroline. Last question. Good morning, governor. My question is still related to wa, the contract says that hydroxychloroquine should be issued as potential. Reatments but the fda issued a warning about this last week, saying it should not be used outside of a hospital setting. Im wondering who put this contract,thing in the ald if it is the former advice of the Iowa Department of Public Health. No. Reynolds iowa is not pursuing that at all. It is not something that the department of Public Health or iowa is pursuing as part of the initiative. Thank you for that question. Thank you. House minority leader Kevin Mccarthy has his Weekly News Conference coming up shortly. We will take you there live when it starts. Trumpspresident schedule this afternoon includes speaking about seniors. We plan to bring you that lie when he starts, around 4 00 p. M. Eastern, here on cspan. Washington journal prime time, a special evening edition of the washington journal on the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. Washingtonare democratic governor jay inslee, who will join us to talk about the covid19 Pandemic Response in washington state, one of the first states to make widespread changes because of the virus. Also joining me is mike leavitt, former health and Human Services secretary under president george bush. He will be talking about Public Health policy during the pandemic. Join the conversation tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. All persons having business before the honorable supreme draw are admonished to their attention, for the court is now sitting. For the first time in history, here the u. S. Supreme court live. In may, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the court is hearing oral arguments in 10 cases by teleconference. Cspan will provide live of each of these sessions. On monday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern, of justices hear the case the u. S. Patent and Trademark Office versus booking. Com. Thats live monday at 10 00 a. M. Demand at cspan, on cspan. Org, or listen on the free cspan radio app. Joining us now is dr. James hamblin of the atlantic. And thank you for joining us this morning. Be a disease of uncertainty. Degree ofrite this uncertainty. Can you expand on that