(Des Moines) On Tuesday, Iowa Governor Reynolds signed a new Public Health Disaster proclamation that imposes several additional public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. These new measures will be effective at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, November 17, and will continue until 11:59 p.m. on December 10, 2020.
The proclamation requires that when people are in an indoor public space and unable to social distance for 15 minutes or longer, masks must be worn. The same requirements apply to visitors and employees inside State buildings. Additional mask requirements are imposed for certain specific establishments and gatherings.
The proclamation also limits indoor social, community, business, and leisure gatherings or events to 15 people. Outdoor gatherings are limited to 30. This includes wedding and funeral receptions, family gatherings, and conventions. But it does not restrict gatherings that occur in the workplace as part of normal daily business or government operations.
Except for high school, collegiate, and professional sports, all organized youth and adult sports activities of any size are suspended. This includes basketball, wrestling, gymnastics, swimming, dance, and group fitness classes at gyms. While high school sports and extracurricular activities are not prohibited, spectators at games or events are limited to 2 per student and must wear a mask.
Restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, arcades, pool halls, bingo halls, and indoor playgrounds are required to close at 10 p.m. and cannot host private gatherings of more than 15 people. Masks must be worn by staff who have direct contact with customers, and customers must wear masks when they are not seated at their table to eat or drink. The proclamation also requires masks inside casinos.
The proclamation also requires hospitals to ensure that inpatient elective procedures are reduced by 50%.
The additional mitigation measures come as Iowa experiences a significant increase in the spread of COVID-19.
Reynolds says the pandemic is worse than ever across the State. Over the past two weeks, there have been 52,000 new cases of the virus, and to put that into perspective, the state is experiencing the same number of cases from the beginning of the pandemic in March to mid-August.
Additionally, Reynolds says about five-percent of Iowans with COVID-19 require hospitalization, and the increase in positive cases over the past two weeks is pushing the state’s healthcare system to the brink. One in every four patients has the virus, and hospitalizations have topped 200 hundred per day.
The Governor says she will reassess these new mitigation measures again in one week.
The full proclamation can be found online here.
