DES MOINES, Iowa - Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced Sunday night that she is recommending schools close for four weeks because of the growing spread of COVID-19.
"Based on new information today from the Iowa Department of Public Health, now is the time to move to the next level of response," said Reynolds in a statement. "I am now recommending that all Iowa schools close for a period of four weeks to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19."
The governor also announced four additional cases of the coronavirus in the state. Two are residents of Allamakee County. One is an adult between age of 41-60 and another is a child. The third case involves a middle-age resident from Johnson County with no known travel-related risk or exposure to a person with the virus. The fourth person lives in Polk County and is a middle-aged adult, and indicates a third case of community spread.
Watch the governor's statement here.
Also on Sunday, Governor Reynolds signed a Proclamation of Disaster Emergency, which extends a proclamation from March 9th. It calls for businesses that sell beverages with an Iowa container deposit to stop accepting empty cans and bottles until the emergency is over.