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COVID-19

Public Health: Risk of contracting COVID-19 now ‘severe’

Webster County reached a total of 3,540 COVID-19 cases Friday, according to Webster County Public Health (WCPH), bringing the rampage of new cases in the last two weeks to 1,266. Webster County is now seeing 80 to 90 cases per day, according to WCPH — double the daily average it was seeing just one week ago. Due to the sheer volume of new cases coming in, the agency was unable to provide a breakdown of cases by age category Friday. Of the total cases, 432 remain open under WCPH monitoring. The department’s employees are now sacrificing their weekends and will continue to work ...

Public Health: Rethink Thanksgiving plans

With about 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 in less than two weeks, Webster County Public Health is advising residents to seriously rethink their Thanksgiving plans in a holiday season that will look different for many as the virus continues to saturate Iowa. On Nov. 7, Webster County totaled 2,274 cases, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. As of Thursday, that number had jumped to 3,123. In that same time frame, the county has seen 10 more people die from the virus, bringing the death toll to 27. The staggering pace of infections and deaths, with 10 deaths in less than ...

Childcare Discovery Center remains open

While many essential workers such as nurses and other health care professionals are busy trying to keep the community healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic, some of their children are being cared for at Childcare Discovery Center. But keeping children and staff at the child care facility healthy has proven to be quite a challenge, according to owner Tammy McNeil. Two people at the center recently tested positive for COVID-19, McNeil said. Those people are under quarantine for 14 days and the classroom has been closed down, she said. Despite the two cases, the facility at 2329 ...

Webster City schools seek waiver for remote learning

WEBSTER CITY — Webster City Community Schools is seeking a waiver from the Iowa Department of Education to temporarily move to remote learning. Officials cited the significant increase in COVID-19 cases in the area and the increasing numbers of staff and students in quarantine as the reason for requesting the waiver. If approved, all students will begin learning remotely on Nov. 30. This model will remain in effect until at least Dec. 11, according to Superintendent Mandy Ross. All remote learning will be required during that time frame. Ross said that additionally, classes the ...

Governor’s mask mandate spurs local chain reaction

A limited mask mandate announced by Gov. Kim Reynolds Monday spurred a chain reaction in Webster County, where some say the new state rule’s exemptions are not reacting strongly enough to a crisis hitting Iowa hard. Following the governor’s announcement in a sober televised address, ...

COVID testing site is on the move

Citing a high demand for COVID-19 testing, Community Health Center of Fort Dodge has moved its test site to the east side of the city. Rapid testing will now be offered at the Iowa Central Community College East Campus, 2031 Quail Ave., beginning today. “A larger indoor space was ...