NE Iowa News

As confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, Iowa health experts are continuing to stress the importance of self-isolating during the pandemic. 

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has grown over 1,000 in recent days, and health officials have shifted their strategy from doing more extensive contact tracing to stressing the importance of self-isolation as the best means to flatten the curve.

According to Iowa Department of Public Health Deputy Director Sarah Reisetter, the virus is too widespread now and everyone is at risk of coming into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or someone who has the virus but is asymptomatic. Therefore, self-isolation is the best practice to protect oneself and the community.

While Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has not issued stay-at-home orders similar to other States, Reynolds has made it clear to all Iowans to stay at home and self-isolate in the face of a spreading COVID-19 pandemic. 

"I can’t lock the state down. I can’t lock everybody in their home," Reynolds said. "When we limit the amount of times that we’re going and minimizing the number of people around, we will start to accomplish—hopefully—what we’ve been trying to do which is flatten the curve."