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White House recommends a statewide mask mandate for Iowa

The report says Iowa's positivity rate sat above 10% from Aug. 20 to Aug. 26, making it the fifth highest rate in the country.

IOWA, USA — The latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report on the state of Iowa recommends state officials to issue a mask mandate to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19. 

The Aug. 30 report says Iowa is in the red zone for cases, meaning more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population were confirmed from Aug. 20. to Aug. 26.

Iowa is also in the red zone for test positivity. During the week of the report, Iowa's positivity rate sat above 10%, making it the fifth-highest rate in the country. 

Due to community spread being high in both rural and urban areas, the task force recommends mask mandates across the entire state to be put in place to decrease transmission.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has been adamant about not issuing a statewide mask mandate. 

"It's not enforceable and you just see it over and over and over when somebody says that they are issuing a mass mandate almost within the same paragraph, they say that they're not going to enforce it," Reynolds said during a press conference last Thursday. 

"So let's just focus on the goal. Let's focus on being responsible. Let's focus on flattening the curve. And let's focus on doing the right thing. And I believe that we can do that without a mass mandate."

The task force also recommends the state shut down bars, again. Last Thursday, Reynolds ordered bars to close in six counties: Polk, Story, Linn, Johnson, Dallas and Black Hawk.

RELATED: Gov. Reynolds closes bars, breweries and night clubs in 6 Iowa counties as coronavirus cases rise

Restaurants are allowed to operate in those counties, but they must stop selling alcohol at 10 p.m. The White House Coronavirus Task Force recommends indoor dining to be limited to 50% in yellow zone counties and 25% in red zone counties and metro areas.

The task force also released recommendations for university towns in the state. Comprehensive plans for testing all returning students with routine surveillance testing are recommended to immediately identify new cases and outbreaks as well as isolate and quarantine. 

Iowa State University (ISU) was the only university to test returning students before move-in. University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa did not. 

ISU also announced 25,000 fans will be allowed at the first football game of the season. 

Each university resides in a county that was ordered to shut down bars last Thursday.

RELATED: How Iowa's public universities are informing people of COVID-19 cases on its respective campuses

Hiring contact tracers and community health workers from within minority and underserved communities is also recommended by the task force to "ensure cultural competency to gain trust and buy-in from within the community."  

Read the full report: 

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