IOWA - Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds will likely hear about the need to keep up mask-wearing and social distancing during a White House meeting with governors today.
Centers for Disease Control Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky says she plans to tell governors about the risks of prematurely lifting restrictions after a new spike in COVID-19 cases.
Data from the Washington Post shows Iowa with the third highest increase in cases over the past week. Numbers from the New York Times show Iowa now has 26 percent more new cases than it did two weeks ago
Reynolds lifted the state’s limited mask mandate and capacity limits for businesses in early February.
President Joe Biden is also calling on governors and mayors to maintain or reinstate mask-wearing orders, saying COVID-19 is spreading fast again because of “reckless behavior."
"I’m reiterating my call for every governor, mayor, and local leader to maintain and reinstate the mask mandate," said Biden Monday. "Please, this is not politics. Reinstate the mandate if you let it down."
Governor Reynolds is also likely to hear details about a plan to further speed up vaccines during the weekly White House call with governors.
President Biden announced Monday that by mid-April, 90 percent of adults in the U.S. will be eligible for shots and 90 percent will have a vaccination site within 5 miles of where they live.
Reynolds has targeted next Monday, April 5th, as a date when all people 16 and older in Iowa will be eligible to get vaccines if supply holds up.
She's been holding weekly news conferences to give updates on the state's response to the pandemic, although there's been no announcement for one this week.
The Biden administration also says it's increasing the number of pharmacies in the federal pharmacy vaccination program from 17,000 to nearly 40,000 across the country and will stand up a dozen more mass vaccination sites during the same time period.