DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Department of Public Health's (IDPH) media relations specialist is no longer with the department, according to an automatic response received by Local 5 Sunday morning.
Local 5 reached out to the now former IDPH spokeswoman Amy McCoy Sunday for an inquiry about how the state defines cases that are "pending investigation."
Instead of an answer to the question, Local 5 received an automatic response that says McCoy is no longer with the department as of Friday, November 6.
"Thank you for your message," the response says. "Nov. 6, 2020 will be my last day with the department."
Local 5 reached out to the governor's office and the IDPH last week to confirm McCoy's departure after seeing reports from the Des Moines Register, but did not receive a response.
Sunday, Local 5 reached out to the IDPH again for comment. Local 5 has yet to receive a response.
McCoy began handling COVID-19 related media inquiries back in March. In July, the department ousted the department's communications director Polly Carver-Kimm.
Carver-Kimm had been responsible for all IDPH communications, including public information requests, up until McCoy took over those duties.
McCoy's duties will now be fulfilled by the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) spokesman Matt Highland and IDPH COVID-19 Communications and Emergency Preparedness Planner Alex Carfrae.
McCoy also acted as the Legislative Liaison for the department. Taking over those duties will be IDPH Deputy Director Sarah Reisetter and DHS Legislative Liaison Carrie Malone.
This all comes as the state sees a surge in cases, deaths and hospitalizations from the virus, indicating that community spread is running rampant in the state.
As of Sunday afternoon, more than 150,000 Iowans have contracted the virus and 1,842 have died. Hospitalizations reached a new high of 992.
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