It's been about 11 weeks since Iowa saw its first cases of coronavirus.
As did the rest of the country, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds had issued temporary restrictions on businesses, events and gatherings across the state. These restrictions loosened statewide Friday, March 15.
As the Iowa Quad Cities slowly reopen, the Illinois side remains under a tighter lockdown, so to speak. With non-essential businesses remaining closed and restaurant dine-in service still unavailable.
In contrast to Iowa, Illinois has engaged in a five-step reopen plan, where each phase becomes less and less restricted on services, gatherings and other movement throughout the state. As of Tuesday, May 19, Illinois remained in phase two, with sights on entering phase three as early as the end of May.
Serology testing:
Serology testing is a blood test that can check for antibodies that have been built up in someone' immune system to fight COVID-19. It's different from diagnostic testing, which seeks to find people who are currently infected with the virus; diagnostic testing is a swab in the nose.
On the state's coronavirus fact webpage, it shows that more than 12,000 people have undergone serology testing in Iowa as of May 19. About 14% of those tests came back positive.
The state uses these results to learn about potential exposures and more.
Doctors can request an individual patient undergo serology testing.
People interested in donating plasma for convalescent plasma therapy may also be able to undergo serology testing.
Child Care:
As Iowa prepares to return to work, child care is available with strict guidelines in place for safety.
The Director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, Kelly Garcia, said at child care facilities, temperatures of staff and kids are taken every morning. Any positive cases that pop up at the facility must be reported.
All child care centers will have access to testing.