(Guthrie Center) The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors heard an update on COVID-19 from Public Health Director Jotham Arber this morning.
Arber told the Board that they have distributed a little over 2,000 masks so far and they have another 1,000 masks and gowns that are going to be going out the door and they are stocking up on equipment that they can send out to local entities as needed and requested. Arber also noted that they have a small stock pile of cloth masks that they are going to make available to the general public so if anybody is interested in those they can call the Public Health Office.
Arber said the total number of COVID-19 cases in Guthrie County is 4, currently the state report is showing 1, but there are four cases.
And, Arber said they have received just shy of $14,000 in stimulus money to help cover home care services and the loss of some services, and they received an additional $8,000 to further purchase supplies and personal protection equipment. He also mentioned that some of the public health nurses are being trained at the Guthrie County Hospital just in case they are needed to help out.
In other news, Kelly Campbell, with the U.S. Census Bureau, spoke about the Guthrie County 2020 U.S. Census numbers. Iowa is 4th in the country for responses, but Guthrie County is lagging with only a 45.1 percent response rate. The shortfall is mainly coming out of Yale, Jamaica and Bagley. The surveys can be done online or via phone at 844-330-2020. The Census helps with tax dollars being brought back into the state and the county.
