As a nurse, I’m very concerned that Iowa just surpassed a troubling milestone – 1,000 lives lost to COVID. With recent revelations that the Test Iowa data doesn’t accurately report the current positive cases and with school openings imminent, this frightening number will climb. Many Iowans have returned to business as usual under the urging of state leaders and our president. It seems like the Governor is relying on hope rather than science in her decision making.
On August 8, the United States passed a grim milestone: 5 million cases of COVID 19 nationwide, and the United States continues to have the worst outbreak in the world. Instead of taking decisive action to slow the spread of the virus, Trump and other leaders have pushed to reopen states, slowed down testing, and are now pushing to reopen schools for in-person learning. As a result, more than 1,000 people in the US have died of coronavirus nearly every day this month, and there is an increase in the number of infections in children.
Senators like Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley are home for a month-long vacation. Instead of taking action to increase testing and provide relief to Americans, the HEROES Act sits on Mitch McConnell’s desk. Since refusing to take up the HEROES Act, there have been 4 Million new COVID cases and 84,000 deaths in the US.
Our leaders should be working to prevent deaths in Iowa, and slow the spread of the virus.
Mary Burke is a nurse from the Mt. Vernon area of Iowa.