Kim Reynolds is opening Bars against White House coronavirus taskforce recommendation ? (Iowa City: universities, move)

[jonbenson]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...asks-stay-open

Guardian UK

(excerpt)

Iowa refuses to close bars and require masks as Covid-19 cases surge in cities
Iowa City and Ames endure worst surge in the country as cases have risen sharply across the whole midwest

Chris McGreal
Wed 9 Sep 2020


Iowa’s governor, Kim Reynolds, is refusing to enforce a White House coronavirus taskforce recommendation to close bars and require people to wear masks after Covid-19 infections in some of the state’s cities surged.

Meanwhile, coronavirus cases have risen sharply across the whole midwest in recent weeks putting the region at the forefront of America’s pandemic. The region accounted for six of the eight states with the highest number of new Covid-19 cases by early September even as infections fell in other parts of the US previously among the worst hit.


In Iowa, the increase was centered on university towns following the return of students to classes. By late August, two of the state’s cities, Ames and Iowa City, were enduring the worst coronavirus surges in the country. The per capita infection rates were higher than any individual country.

But Reynolds has limited bar closures to six counties including those with the universities. She would go no further than “strongly encouraging” people to wear masks, saying that they were “not a silver bullet”.

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Is this the right thing to do?


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[jonbenson]

https://www.healthline.com/health-ne...ad-of-covid-19

Healthline

Bars as Risky as Jails for Potential Spread of COVID-19

• In a new survey, epidemiologists ranked bars and jails as the riskiest places for COVID-19 transmission.
  
• Among the reasons health experts say bars are a high-risk environment is because of the number of people who interact in a closed space over a long period of time.
  
• People must also repeatedly remove their masks to drink while in a bar, which also increases the risk of transmission.
  
• Health experts suggest people consider meeting friends at a park or in their backyard rather than at a bar.