Des Moines, Iowa — Governor Kim Reynolds held a press conference at 4:30 pm on Friday, March 13th from the State Emergency Operations Center in Johnston, Iowa on the topic of COVID-19 (coronavirus).
A press conference was scheduled to begin at 1:30 pm on the afternoon of Friday, March 13th but was postponed to 4:30 pm of the same day. That press conference was open to credentialed members of the media and was also able to be viewed live on Facebook.
The first case of COVID-19 was reported in Iowa on Monday, March 9th. One additional case was reported in Iowa today, with a resident from Harrison County testing positive in Nebraska. This brings the total number of positive cases in Iowa to 17, with 15 of those being tied to individuals from the same Egyptian cruise.
Reynolds stated that all non-essential state employee travel is being suspended for the time being. While community spread is not occurring here in Iowa, Reynolds encouraged maintaining good health practices, including limiting interactions with others, frequent hand washing, and avoiding contact with those who are sick. While many anticipated hearing it, there was no proclamation of any kind made at this press conference regarding the closing of any schools in Iowa.
For up to date, accurate information on COVID – 19, it is recommended that you go to the websites of the Center for Disease Control www.cdc.gov, Iowa Department of Public Health idph.iowa.gov, or the World Health Organization www.who.int.
To view the press conference on facebook, click HERE.
