From the Desk of Public Health
By Staff | May 18, 2021
Last week, the Palo Alto County Board of Health met in regular session and discussed the mask mandate for our county. It was voted on and approved to continue to mandate mask wearing throughout the county until the next Board meeting in June. By continuing the mask mandate, we are able to provide protection and ensure that our children are able to finish their school year, attend graduation ceremonies and celebrate their achievements.
At this time, our positivity rate remains low at 5% with four newly reported cases in the last seven days. I say reported cases, because there are many family members who are ill and not getting tested because they know they have had an exposure. Our total cases to date is 1,183 and we have lost 21 county residents to COVID.
From the Desk of Public Health
Vaccine, Health Mitigation Strategies Effective in Keeping Our Community Safe from COVID-19
By Staff | Apr 22, 2021
We have had a busy past few days with increased COVID activity in our community. It is so easy to let our guards down looking at our positivity rate and forgetting that we need to continue to take precautions. This virus is still here and very much looking for people to host it. In fact, across the state, we are seeing an increase in cases of COVID-19, especially among the younger population. We also have begun to see the variant strains in Iowa as well. One of these new strains, the UK Variant, is proving to be easier to spread.