FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 15, 2020
CONTACT: press@iowademocrats.org
Secretary Azar Visits Iowa With Absolutely No Solutions on Same Day State Surpasses 1,500 COVID-19 Deaths
Secretary Azar’s desperate, politically-motivated trip offers no solutions to Iowa’s growing coronavirus crisis and puts lives at risk
DES MOINES — The day after President Trump held a super-spreader event in Des Moines and the same day that Iowa surpassed 1,500 coronavirus deaths, HHS Secretary Alex Azar is visiting Iowa clinics and research centers with Governor Kim Reynolds. Beyond endangering frontline workers by exposing them to attendees at high-risk, reckless events, this trip offers absolutely no solutions to Iowa’s growing coronavirus crisis.
Iowa’s COVID-19 hospitalization rate is at an all-time high, with nearly 500 Iowans hospitalized this morning alone. More than 101,000 Iowans have gotten sick with the virus, yet Reynolds still refuses to implement a mask mandate or follow other CDC and White House task force guidance for reducing community spread in outbreak centers like schools and long-term care facilities.
“Secretary Azar’s photo-op in Des Moines comes on the same day that Iowa passes yet another tragic milestone of 1,500 deaths and less than 24 hours after the president’s reckless super-spreader event endangered countless Iowa lives,” said IDP Chair Mark Smith. “Grieving Iowa families and the tens of thousands of out-of-work Iowans desperately need solutions, but all the Trump administration can offer is broken promises and empty, politically-motivated stunts.”