Coronavirus

COVID-19 poses serious risks to pregnant women, but despite that, many continue to forgo the vaccines. Iowa health care providers say they are seeing more pregnant patients — who are otherwise young and healthy — become severely ill from the virus.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s largest public school system will offer drive-through COVID-19 tests starting next week, in an effort to counter rising virus infections since the governor discontinued a statewide testing program.

Professor Steve L. O’Kane — who is 64 and has been at UNI for 26 years — will be allowed to continue teaching his online courses for this semester, according to a disciplinary letter UNI College of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences Dean John Fritch wrote in a disciplinary letter Wednesday.

The state reports 163 intensive care unit beds available, an all-time low

The academy said in a court document that its review of research and the experiences of its front-line pediatric practitioners "prove beyond any doubt that universal mask policies in schools significantly reduce the spread of COVID-19 in school populations."

The emergency order, which was put in place on Aug. 19, was set to expire on Thursday.

Given staffing concerns at a University of Iowa hospital facing the confluence of surging patient demand with an overstressed workforce, administrators Wednesday morning announced they will double extra shift premium pay for inpatient nurses and respiratory therapists for the next seven weeks.

After considering a resolution earlier this week to rebuff a Board of Regents prohibition of mask mandates by encouraging faculty to act “at their own discretion,” even if it violates state law and board policy, University of Northern Iowa’s Faculty Senate opted for a less combative stance.

The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have proved “highly effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19” among health care workers in “real-world” settings, according to a new national study that involved 300-plus University of Iowa Health Care workers.

Documents filed in the case claim that nearly a quarter of Iowa public school students are in districts that have experienced significant COVID-19 outbreaks this year.

Nearly a quarter of Iowa public school students are in districts that have experienced significant COVID-19 outbreaks this year, according to a federal lawsuit seeking to prevent the state from enforcing a law banning mask mandates in schools.

On Monday, University of Iowa Health Care began administering booster shots of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to more than 10,000 employees after federal officials issued new recommendations this past week. UIHC officials estimate the first phase will last four to six weeks.

A 59-year-old man from Andalusia, Ill., near the Quad Cities became the first in Iowa to receive a double lung transplant after COVID-19 destroyed his respiratory function.

Eighteen inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, and an additional 19 inmates have had possible exposure to the virus and are in quarantine awaiting test results.

District establishes metrics to be considered in determining when mask requirement for students and staff can safely end.