Hey folks, as you might guess the protests and news of an arrest over the George Floyd murder have sucked up a lot of the headlines today, leaving relatively little coronavirus news to pick from, but here’s a quick roundup:
- 290 new reported cases and 20 new deaths between 10 a.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. today. Cumulative totals are now 18,792 and 520, respectively.
- Dustin Robbins, a former Dallas County correctional officer says he was wrongfully terminated after making a report to the state that the sheriff’s office had planned to have an asymptomatic employee that had tested positive return to work “with precautions”. The employee shared recorded phone conversations with the Des Moines Register in which the Dallas County Sheriff Chad Leonard and Jail Administrator Douglas Lande berated him upon finding out Robbins had made the report:
When all people are created equal, it becomes necessary to suggest that some people are not people, in order that privilege maintains its place for some people.
That is why the state did not care to test Storm Lake. Gov. Kim Reynolds said on Tuesday that you cannot prioritize lives over livelihoods. She called it a balance — the need to maintain pork supplies balanced against the lives of anonymous brown people who are not really of us. Julian Dubuque prioritized his own livelihood over the Native lives he found in Northeast Iowa. We chased the Dakota people out of Northwest Iowa and hanged them in Mankato and roped them off in South Dakota. It is our tradition. Our livelihood. It doesn’t matter so much if the packinghouse is a breeding ground. No need to ship protective gear in March. No hurry to get testing to Storm Lake. They don’t even speak English! They can’t vote, because they are not us.
Polk County surpasses 4,000 COVID-19 cases; 20 additional deaths reported statewide
Dallas County jailer says he was fired after telling state about coworker's COVID-19 infection; files lawsuit
Iowa will help some affected by COVID-19 closures avoid eviction, foreclosure for up to 4 months
Coronavirus outbreak at Des Moines nursing home wasn't reported by state for weeks
Pandemic causes state budget experts to cut revenue estimate for next year by $360 million