JUDY WOODRUFF: Now let's focus in on a COVID
hot spot in the Midwest.
Iowa is dealing with a surge of cases in recent
weeks, along with nearby states such as North
Dakota, South Dakota and Kansas. Iowa has
one of the fastest growing rates in the country
at the moment.
Amna Nawaz has a report from there.
AMNA NAWAZ: Thanks, Judy.
That surge in Iowa has been driven in part
by the return to school, including the state's
major universities. But that's not all.
O. Kay Henderson is the news director at Radio
Iowa, and she appears regularly on Iowa PBS.
She joins me now from Des Moines.
Kay, welcome back to the "NewsHour."
Let's jump right in, because the numbers are
worth highlighting. Statewide, we should mention,
Iowa currently has more than 66,000 confirmed
cases, more than 1,100 deaths, but it's not
the infection volume that is troubling experts.
It is the per capita numbers, right?
The average in Iowa is triple the national
average over the last week. Governor Reynolds
held a press conference about this earlier
today. How would you describe her response
to the latest troubling figures?
O. KAY HENDERSON, News Director, Radio Iowa:
Well, as many people know, the White House
Coronavirus Task Force has been advising states
on steps to take to sort of mitigate the spread
of the virus.
And the task force this past week recommended
that Iowa close bars in 61 of its 99 counties
and have a statewide mandate for face coverings
in public places.
The governor has resisted both of those things.
But, last week, she did act, closed bars in
six of Iowa's counties. Three of them are
in the populous places in Iowa, in Polk and
Dallas counties, the Des Moines metro, Linn
County, which is where Cedar Rapids is, the
other major metro in Iowa, and then in the
college communities, where the big state universities
are located.
AMNA NAWAZ: Let me ask you a little bit more
about that, because the experts have said
community transmission remains high in those
university towns.
When you look at that one county around the
University of Iowa, Johnson County, there
was a surge in positivity rates in a matter
of weeks. Back in August 2, in that week,
the positivity rate, which is a percentage
of the positive cases of everyone tested,
right, August 2, that was 9.9 percent. By
August 23, that had jumped to 29.7 percent.
What happened here? Was there not enough mitigation
put in place before? Were those steps not
enough?
O. KAY HENDERSON: Well, many of the folks
in Iowa City who work in the health industry
had hoped that students would be tested as
they returned to campus and then put in quarantine.
But the university decided not to test students
who were returning. But students have been
tested as they have been exposed to positive
cases.
AMNA NAWAZ: Let me ask you about another county,
Story County. That's where Iowa State University
is.
There were plans in place for a football game
next week. This was catching a lot of attention.
Governor Reynolds was actually asked about
that football game and the plan to allow fans
to attend in the press conference.
Here's what she said in response.
GOV. KIM REYNOLDS (R-IA): So, if you have
underlying conditions, and you're part of
a vulnerable population, maybe I wouldn't
go to the Iowa State football game next week.
It's 25,000 out of a capacity of 61,500. It
is outdoors. They should -- I'm sure, should
wear a mask. And if we see an impact, then
we will have to adjust accordingly.
QUESTION: But, Governor...
GOV. KIM REYNOLDS: But if you don't know,
if you don't think it's safe, don't go.
AMNA NAWAZ: Kay, it's worth pointing out,
that was at noon Eastern. Less than three
hours later, plans changed, and the university
said no fans will be allowed.
What happened there behind the scenes? Who's
driving the decision-making?
O. KAY HENDERSON: Well, Iowa State athletics
director Jamie Pollard made the announcement
90 minutes after the governor made that statement
that your viewers just heard.
And he, in his written statement, said that
the university president had reached out to
people in the community, heard their concerns,
and reversed course, meaning that there will
be no fans in the stands when Iowa State has
its home opener in Ames on September 12.
The Story County Board of Public Health had
been urging University officials to have games
without fans in the stands. And last night,
there was a lengthy city council meeting in
Ames, where citizens were expressing either
outrage or support of a city mandate that
people wear face coverings in the city of
Ames.
It passed. It goes into effect on Friday.
But because of the governor's public health
declarations here, that prevents cities and
counties from enforcing local mandates. So,
there will be no penalty for not wearing a
face mask, although there is an ordinance
saying that folks should.
AMNA NAWAZ: I have to ask you, very briefly,
Kay, before we let you go there, Republican
Senator Joni Ernst has recently cast doubt
on the death toll, saying it's likely not
-- it's likely overstated, rather, even though
experts say the opposite.
Is that stance, is that doubt, is that something
reflective of people's concerns on the ground
in Iowa?
O. KAY HENDERSON: I was hearing from conservative
Republicans in the state legislature as early
as April that they were casting doubts about
the number of COVID deaths that were being
reported in the state way back then.
As you mentioned a few moments ago, 1,100
deaths in Iowa have been attributed to COVID.
And Senator Ernst mentioned that she has heard
from people in the health care industry that
hospitals are misdiagnosing people as having
COVID in order to get higher payments for
the care of those patients.
I have reached out to the hospital association
here and to the state Medicaid program. Neither
of them have responded to that accusation.
AMNA NAWAZ: And we should point out that experts
seem to agree that the death count is actually
undercounted nationwide in this pandemic.
That is O. Kay Henderson of Radio Iowa, the
news director there.
Thank you so much, Kay.
O. KAY HENDERSON: Thank you.
