As Governor Kim Reynolds Takes the Stage Tomorrow, We Should Remember Iowa’s Record on COVID-19 Is Nothing to Celebrate
Tomorrow night, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds will give the Republican response to President Biden’s State of the Union speech. We should expect to see the same divisive rhetoric we’ve heard from others in her party, which has served to prolong the pandemic, putting people’s lives at risk in order to score political points. Republicans like Governor Reynolds are more interested in pandering to the most extreme elements of their base instead of promoting common sense measures like vaccines and boosters that are proven to help get our country back on track.
Iowa’s Covid Record Is Nothing To Be Proud Of
Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, nearly 9,000 Iowans have died. Iowa ranks 25th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for deaths per capita. Only 61 percent of Iowans are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the 26th best in the country and below the national vaccination rate of 65 percent. Only 23 percent of Iowa nursing home staff have received a booster shot, putting vulnerable elderly and disabled residents at risk.
The CDC still considers community transmission of the coronavirus in Iowa to be at the highest possible level and an average of 17 Iowans are dying of Covid-19 each day, but on February 15, 2022, Kim Reynolds allowed the expiration of the state’s public health disaster proclamation claiming that, “After two years, it’s no longer feasible or necessary. The flu and other infectious illnesses are part of our everyday lives, and coronavirus can be managed similarly.”
From the Beginning, Kim Reynolds Failed To Take Basic Steps To Keep Iowans Safe
Iowa was one of the few states not to issue stay-at-home orders at the beginning of the pandemic. On March 17, 2020, one day after President Trump finally issued an advisory on social distancing, Reynolds closed bars and restaurants, but she opted to individually identify other businesses that must close and allowed nonessential retailers to remain open for weeks. Even these limited measures didn’t last long and on May 1, 2020, while the virus was still quickly spreading in Iowa, Reynolds loosened social distancing measures in 77 of Iowa’s 99 counties.
Reynolds refused to implement a statewide mask mandate in Iowa until November 2020, then lifted it — along with many other coronavirus restrictions — in February 2021, without explanation, earlier than many other states, and long before most Iowans had an opportunity to be vaccinated.
In April 2021, Reynolds rejected $95 million in federal funding for testing in schools because she thought the state didn’t need it. Months later as the omicron variant ripped across the country, health care facilities and labs across Iowa reported severe shortages of testing supplies and resources.
Kim Reynolds Has Opposed Vaccine Requirements, Including For Health Care Workers, And Paid Workers To Resist Vaccination
Kim Reynolds has opposed all vaccine mandates, and joined nine other states in a lawsuit to overturn the Biden administration’s rule requiring that all health care workers be vaccinated to protect themselves and their vulnerable patients from Covid-19. Reynolds signed legislation in October 2021 that gives employees of Iowa businesses wide latitude to claim religious and medical exemptions from vaccine requirements and offered unemployment benefits to workers who quit their jobs or are fired because they refuse to be vaccinated. Although she has done everything in her power to reward Iowa workers who decline to be vaccinated, Reynolds has been quick to blame unvaccinated immigrants for the spread of Covid in her state.
Kim Reynolds Aggressively Fought Mask Mandates Designed To Keep Vulnerable Children Safe In School
In May 2021 Reynolds signed legislation handcuffing local school boards and banning school and business mask mandates. Throughout the delta and omicron surges, Reynolds has continued to aggressively litigate in support of her mask mandate ban, including a legal battle against the parents of disabled children who feel their children are unsafe in Iowa classrooms because of Reynolds’ actions.
Covid-19 Devastated Workers In The Meatpacking Industry In Iowa And Kim Reynolds Did Little To Stop It
Meatpacking plants were a hotbed for coronavirus clusters across Iowa in the early days of the pandemic. Iowa is the nation’s number one pork producer, and the meatpacking industry is the largest employer in several counties. The economic importance of this industry caused Governor Reynolds to steadfastly resist taking action that might jeopardize meat production – even at the expense of the health of her own residents. As much of the country was shutting down, workers in Iowa’s meatpacking facilities (many of them immigrants and refugees) continued to work, standing in close proximity without any protective gear as they processed animals. Reynolds did little between March and April 2020 to provide assertive guidance that would have slowed the spread of the virus in these crowded plants and she waited until hundreds of meatpacking workers had fallen ill and until local officials across the state were pressing her for help before implementing a mitigation strategy in the form of targeted testing. Nationwide, more than 59,000 meatpacking workers have been infected with the coronavirus and over 269 have died.
More than a year after the fact, Reynolds claimed that her administration acted decisively to protect workers in meatpacking plants saying that, “Not only did we provide the PPE, but we were able to test. Those that were positive were quarantined.” The Cedar Rapids Gazette Fact Checker reviewed her claims and gave them an “F” for accuracy.
In September 2021, major meatpacking employer Tyson Foods announced that it had achieved a 91 percent vaccination rate for its employees, including 11,000 in Iowa, thanks to worker outreach and a vaccine mandate. Reynolds opposed the Biden administration’s vaccine or test mandate for large employers like Tyson and said the state would refuse to enforce it.
Throughout The Pandemic Kim Reynolds Has Tried To Conceal Vital Public Health Information From Iowans
In February 2022, the Reynolds administration announced that it will scale back the reporting of Covid-19 data even as the rate of new infections and hospitalizations remained high due to the omicron variant. On February 16, Iowa’s two public Covid websites were decommissioned. The websites presented vaccine information and data on the virus’s activity.
From the earliest days of the pandemic, Reynolds tried to keep information on the outbreak and its possible trajectory from her constituents. In April 2020 the Reynolds’ administration tried to conceal a University of Iowa report that included “predictions on COVID-19 activity in Iowa, including expected hospitalizations and deaths” and urged further preventative measures. The Reynolds Administration also refused to release documentation on the state’s preparedness for the pandemic denying access to “reports from the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Management regarding day-to-day actions from the state on the virus,” and information on businesses that sought testing from the state. Reynolds continues to litigate to block the release of records related to her pandemic response, with her attorneys arguing in court in December 2021 that she was too busy to respond quickly to public-records requests due to the pandemic, and that her decision-making process is shielded from disclosure by executive privilege.