BOONE COUNTY, Iowa - The Boone County Health Board Chairman is heading an effort to cancel or restrict attendance at a major auto race next week.
Dr. Brian Melhaus wants to at least eliminate spectators at the International Motor Contest Association Super Nationals, which takes place next Monday thru Saturday and brings in hundreds of drivers from across the country.
Melhaus thinks the race could lead to schools in Boone County having to go to online only classes, and could lead to an overflow of the county hospital.
There's concern in Boone after a race in Knoxville last month led to the spread of COVID-19. The Knoxville Raceway canceled the rest of its 2020 season after that race.
Organizers with next week's IMCA race have so far limited attendance to 50 percent of capacity.
Boone County sits next to three other counties - Story, Polk and Dallas - where Governor Reynolds has closed bars out of COVID-19 concerns.
It's also one of 28 Iowa counties singled out in a White House Coronavirus Task Force report to be in a "red zone", with more than 100 new cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population.