HARDIN COUNTY, Iowa — Hardin and Story County were in the first group of counties to reopen in the state of Iowa in April.
They were among the 77 counties to allow customers back into restaurants, shoppers back into brick and mortar stores, and patrons to work out again inside fitness centers.
But over the last several weeks, both counties are seeing an uptick in coronavirus cases among young people. The increase is so concerning that top public health officials in both counties have sent out strong messaging to urge their residents to remain vigilant to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
"Please know that while we may feel "over" the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), unfortunately, it is not done with us," wrote Rocky Reents, Public Health Coordinator for Hardin County. "Nothing has changed in the way this virus is transmitted....Recently, many more young adults have tested positive for COVID-19. In the last week, a majority of the new cases in Hardin County have been under the age of 25."
Currently, Hardin County has 54 positive coronavirus cases. As you can see in the above graph, there was a significant spike in cases in the middle of June. There are nearly 17,000 people who live in Hardin County.
In Story County, the board of health held a special meeting Monday night to discuss the significant spread of COVID-19 in its community. Over the last two weeks, cases have gone up, with the highest one-day total being on June 19 when 65 individuals tested positive. The county has an 8.5% positivity rate, lower than the statewide positivity rate of 10 percent.
The document discussed by the board was drafted by chair Dr. John Paschen, a practicing physician in the county. He said in his remarks throughout the meeting that he has seen residents in the county not practice social distancing or become lax in wearing masks.
"We cannot emphasize enough the importance of everyone wearing masks when out in public or around people," Paschen wrote in the document.
Paschen's most notable recommendation from the document was for Iowa State University, the public university located in Ames, to ban spectators from sporting events in the fall.
"Please only broadcast them," wrote Paschen. "We cannot think of any way these events can be made even remotely safe with the masses of people from all over the state who routinely attend these events. Please do it for the health of our community."
Right now, ISU plans to host sporting events like football games, with limited fans, in the fall. 10 student-athletes at ISU have tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, two of them football players.
While both Hardin and Story County public health officials understand that though they can make recommendations to the public to wear face coverings, practice social distancing, and be vigilant about the spread of COVID-19, they cannot impose stricter guidelines than what the state health department is putting out. So far, Iowa Department of Public Health officials are not mandating face coverings for Iowans.
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