Activities that were safe in the summer are not safe now, White House report warns

DES MOINES, Iowa — Ahead of a Wednesday press conference from Gov. Kim Reynolds on the state's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the newest White House Task Force report noted significant reductions in testing and increases in percent positivity, and called for state leaders to increase mitigation efforts.

The report, obtained by ABC News, is dated Dec. 6 and shared significant warnings for the latest surge in COVID-19 cases. 

"This current fall to winter surge continues to spread to every corner of the US, from small towns to large cities....this surge is the most rapid increase in cases," the report noted. "Despite the severity of this surge and the threat to the hospital systems, many state and local governments are not implementing the same mitigation policies that stemmed the tide of the summer surge; that must happen now."

For the last several weeks, bars and restaurants have had to close at 10 p.m. to help reduce the spread of coronavirus. Spectators have been limited at youth sporting events. And large gatherings have been limited unless a mask is worn by everyone.

Though Iowa's daily new hospital admissions have gone down in recent weeks, the task force pointed out "this should be viewed very cautiously since there was a 40% reduction of PCR testing over the past week and nearly 50% of nursing homes have at least one positive staff member.

"There are still very high virus levels across the state; activities that were safe in the summer are not safe now. Keep mitigation efforts high."

Reynolds said at her last press conference on Dec. 3 that she is optimistic about the decrease in case numbers and hospitalizations. But some Iowa medical experts warn the plateau the state has reached is still very worrisome.

Intensive Care Units are still crowded with COVID patients, and health care workers remain stressed and overworked as the cold and flu season sets in.

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Some of the recommendations for Iowa leaders from the task force include:

• increase testing levels to find asymptomatic individuals to remove the source of spread
• limiting indoor restaurant capacity to less than 25% and closing bars or limiting bar hours
• conduct active testing in schools for teachers and students where cases are increasing
• consider pausing extracurricular school activities

You can read the full report for Iowa below.