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Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds addresses the Iowans at her weekly press conference Thursday, February 4, 2021 in Johnston, Iowa, where she provided updates on vaccination efforts against the COVID-19.
(Bryon Houlgrave / The Des Moines Register via AP)
The Iowans are no longer required to hide in public buildings starting Sunday morning, according to Governor Kim Reynolds’ latest health proclamation.
The new rules – which override restrictions instituted by Reynolds before Thanksgiving – also lift previous restrictions on the number of people allowed to congregate in a single space at any given time, as well as social distancing requirements for businesses like restaurants. and gyms.
“It allows us to start doing business again at a really critical time,” Iowa Restaurant Association chef Jessica Dunker told the Des Moines Register on Saturday.
“We are… a day before the Super Bowl, which opens up a lot of businesses for the crowds to come and watch the big game safely.”
Reynolds, who once dismissed mask warrants as a “wellness” measure, changed her mind in November as COVID-19 cases exploded in Iowa and elsewhere.
His office did not explain the governor’s decision to lift the restrictions, according to reports. Iowa reported 804 cases of the coronavirus as of Friday morning and ranks 46th in the country for vaccine distribution, the registry said.
The new proclamation “strongly encourages Iowans, businesses and organizations to take reasonable public health measures consistent with the guidelines of the Iowa Department of Public Health,” the governor’s office said in a statement.
But at least one prominent public health voice in the state has criticized the move, which was announced days after state officials announced three confirmed cases of the highly contagious UK variant of COVID-19.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, to put it bluntly,” Iowa Public Health Association president Lina Tucker Reinders told The Register.
“We are not yet out of the pandemic.”
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