Public health officials in Dubuque County are dealing with a rise in COVID-19 cases, similar to the Quad Cities.
Michelle O'Neill reports Dubuque County governments, hospitals, emergency managers, and others have been working together since March to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mary Rose Corrigan works for the City of Dubuque as its Public Health Specialist. She says one challenge has been confusion about when people who've had COVID-19 can go back to work. So local health officials worked with them to encourage following CDC isolation guidelines.
Many people in the Dubuque area travel between Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin for work. Corrigan says others who take overnight trips should make decisions based on each situation. Corrigan says assess the risk and make contingency plans ahead of time, then follow your plan if the situation changes.
More than 1,535 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Dubuque County, compared to 1,593 in Scott County. But 29 Dubuque County residents have died, compared to 12 in Scott County.
Only one long term care center in Dubuque County had an outbreak of the coronavirus.
The county's Public Health Incident Management Team has been working with all the local nursing homes, which can now order their own testing.
But it's still hard on residents because they can't have visitors.
Corrigan says the team is also providing education and information to school districts which are now deciding how to hold classes.
You'll find a video below for Dubuque County information dated Thursday, July 30th, 2020 from the City of Dubuque, IA Facebook page. Starting at about 2:05, Corrigan discusses the city and county being identified as "red zones" by the White House task force.
