DES MOINES — Donald Trump and Governor Reynolds’ failed response to the coronavirus has been a disaster for Iowa families. For months, Governor Reynolds has followed Trump’s lead and downplayed the threat of the virus, ignored the advice of medical experts, and failed to come up with a plan to contain the spread. Now, cases in Iowa are surging, hospitals are stretched to capacity, small businesses are shuttering for good, and thousands of Iowans are still out of work.

The coronavirus is surging in almost every county and hospitalizations are on the rise.

AP: “Iowa’s COVID-19 death rate among highest in US, report says”

KCCI: “1,908 new coronavirus cases reported in Iowa, hospitalization records set”

KGAN: “White House: 90% of Iowa counties facing moderate to high levels of virus transmission”

DMR: “…the recent surge of patients coming to the University of Iowa Hospitals includes many people from rural areas, where social distancing and mask wearing have not been as common as in many cities.”

While Sen. Joni Ernst and Washington Republicans are holding up comprehensive coronavirus relief to fight the virus and help workers and small business owners, 1 in 5 small businesses have shuttered their doors and may never reopen. 

NYT: “Iowa Never Locked Down. Its Economy Is Struggling Anyway.”

NYT: “President Trump and many supporters blame restrictions on business activity, often imposed by Democratic governors and mayors, for prolonging the economic crisis initially caused by the virus. But the experience of states like Iowa shows the economy is far from back to normal even in Republican-led states that have imposed few business restrictions.”

KCRG: “Univ. Iowa Hospitals and Clinics healthcare workers call on Iowa leaders to step up in fight against COVID-19”

The lack of public health transparency puts Iowans at risk. Reynolds’ administration has withheld public safety information and misallocated federal CARES Act relief funds.

Washington Post: “In places such as Iowa, a high threshold for declaring an outbreak keeps workers, students and parents in the dark.”

DMR: “State lawyers admitted in a court filing this month that a staffer for Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds told a health department spokesperson to withhold information about the Test Iowa program requested under the state’s open records law.”

DMR: “Reynolds’ office justified the allocation for the accounting software by saying it would help to quickly assist essential employees during the pandemic. Sand, however, noted that the state had contracted for the work in 2019, which was before the pandemic began.”

Iowans are tired of being treated as political pawns while Republicans like Ernst stand in the way of much needed comprehensive relief while spreading misinformation and disparaging front line workers. 

NYT: “As Governor Resists Mask Mandate, Iowans Sour on the G.O.P.”

NYT: “Rick Flanagan, a 61-year-old voter from Newton who had planned to vote for Ms. Ernst in the Senate race, recalled the moment he changed his mind in favor of her Democratic opponent. “It was ‘when Ernst said she didn’t believe the deaths and the science from Covid,’ Mr. Flanagan said, referring to remarks by Ms. Ernst echoing a conspiracy theory that coronavirus deaths were being inflated and that medical professionals had a financial incentive to do so. ‘That sealed it for me, and honestly, it soured me on Republicans,’ Mr. Flanagan said. Ms. Ernst walked back her remarks and apologized to health care workers.”