“Our state coronavirus website now includes the county by county 14-day average positivity rate for our school districts,” Governor Kim Reynolds announced at her August 6 news conference. “Schools and others will be able to check to see where each county stands on this important metric.”
State Medical Director Caitlin Pedati appeared via computer link at the same press conference, answering reporters’ questions about state policies on reopening schools.
Pedati acknowledged on August 19 that the Iowa Department of Public Health’s epidemiology team knew in late July that the positivity rates were inaccurate, because many recent COVID-19 cases were recorded as occurring weeks or months in the past.
An announced “fix” did not appear to solve the backdating problem. On the contrary: newly posted totals on the state’s coronavirus website increased the number of cases recorded for March and April.