Iowans might not know that there's an outbreak in their town unless the media asks public health officials.
At her press conference Wednesday, Gov. Kim Reynolds was asked if there is a confirmed outbreak at a meat packing plant in Storm Lake, given the excessive spike in cases.
The Associated Press reports that the meatpacking plant has seen nearly 500 cases. The state health department reported 493 cases since Friday in Buena Vista County, where a Tyson pork processing plant is located.
Reynolds said it hasn't been confirmed, but testing is underway.
"With our ability to track virus activity on a daily basis that really does kind of give us the information we need to know where we potentially see a hot spot or a potential spike," Reynolds said. "And if we can that's when we move the testing into that area start to, start to really identify the scope of the virus activity, where it is maybe stemming from and how we can proactively get in front of it."
"But, you know, we're, we're testing to make sure that we understand what the scope of that is, and how we can start to isolate those that are testing positive immediately start the case investigation so that we can get the negative individuals separated, look at how we separate the shifts and how we continue to move forward to minimize as much as possible, the effect of a potential spike," she continued.
A Tyson spokeswoman says the company is awaiting complete data.
When do Storm Lake residents that don't work at the plant get notified of an outbreak? When does any resident in any city with an outbreak find out?
More than a month ago, the state told Iowans that the Iowa Department of Public Health would confirm an outbreak if at least 10% of employees at a facility test positive. On Wednesday, it became apparent that it doesn't mean they announce it to the entire public immediately.
Sarah Reisetter with the IDPH said, "So we've been, we've been announcing them at these press conferences as the questions have been asked."
Two outbreaks confirmed by the IDPH on Tuesday had been on their radar since May 11.
"Sometimes it takes us a little bit of time to pull together the information and so it also provides an opportunity for the business to notify their communities as Perdue Farms did," Reisetter said.
Reynolds said it's the responsibility of local public health departments to let residents know of an outbreak.
"So again, this is a partnership, that's taking place, not only from the state, but the county right down to the local governments," she said.
"We have done this whole process. We are working very hard to keep Iowans informed. Maybe our local public health is a way to get that information to the community because it's isolated," she said.
The Associated Press contributed in this reporting
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