The Iowa Department of Public Health shows an increase of almost 1,200 new positive COVID-19 tests in the state and three more deaths for a total of almost 68,000 positive cases and 1,137 deaths. Cases in Woodbury County continue to climb. Siouxland District Health is tracking 46 additional cases for more than 4,200 since the beginning of the pandemic and 56 deaths. The test positivity rate according to the Iowa Department of Public Health is 11.6% Sioux and Plymouth Counties have the third and

404 News 090320 South Dakota is now being called the worst state in the nation for COVID-19 after a surge in cases during the last week.

304 news 090320 South Dakota is the worst state in the nation for COVID-19 after a surge in cases last week. The state has reported 2,152 cases in the past seven days, 243 cases per 100,000 people. That's the highest amount of cases per 100, in the nation, according to the tracking done by the New York Times.

Coming up on The Exchange, a Woodbury County judge last week invalidated more than 50 thousand prefilled absentee ballot request forms about sixty days out from the November election, after a lawsuit filed by the GOP and President Trump's campaign. The plaintiffs argue that Secretary of State Paul Pate decreed that only unpopulated absent ballot requests could be sent out.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds acknowledged the increase of COVID-19 cases in the state during a news conference today. The CDC reported last week, Iowa saw the highest rate of new cases in the nation and 5 th highest number of positivity rates. Reynolds says the biggest increase is with younger adults in the college towns of Iowa City, Ames and even Iowa Falls. The governor didn’t call for further action as recommended by the CDC for impacted areas, including a mask mandate. Recently, she did close

A local advocate launched an on-line petition calling for mandatory face coverings and masks for the state of Iowa. Cindy Waitt, who works with the Kind World Foundation, the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention and many other charities, talked to Siouxland Public Media about her push for wearing masks. The petition can be found here .

The Hinton Community School District is making changes after high COVID-19 positivity rates in Plymouth County. A letter to families says the community is now seeing an increase. Cases were previously seen on other parts of the county. Starting tomorrow, all 4 th grade to 12 th grade students will move to hybrid learning. Students will be in class two days and online the other three days. All P-K to third grade students will stay on-site. The current positivity rate in Plymouth County is 22.4%.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of so many events this summer, including ArtSplash. Siouxland Public Media’s Sheila Brummer with the online evolution of this annual festival to meet the times. Every Labor Day weekend for 26-years, thousands of people packed Sioux City’s Riverside Park for ArtSplash. The annual event showcasing more than paintings, pottery and photography. With ArtSplash canceled this year, there’s an alternative, on Facebook and on the website artsplashonline.com .

A new report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force has found Iowa has the highest rate of new COVID-19 cases in the country. The report released yesterday puts the state in the red zone for both cases and test positivity, which is more than 10 percent. It says community transmission continues to be high across the entire state. The task force recommends that state leaders close bars and gyms in many counties as well as limit indoor capacity at restaurants to 50 percent or even less. It

During this first week of class for students in the Sioux City Community School District, two staff members tested positive for the novel coronavirus. That’s according to school officials who say Siouxland District Health did contact tracing and everyone impacted has been directed to self-isolate or self-quarantine. The district plans to provide the public with positive test updates each Friday and will not disclose specific schools with cases of COVID-19. Another dozen people battling the