Natalie Krebs

Iowa businesses, school districts and citizens continue to respond to the escalating COVID-19 pandemic. We'll be posting updates as more news regarding the spread of the virus in Iowa becomes available here for the week of April 5-11. 

Gov. Kim Reynolds and public health officials this week described their six-region point system to guide their decisions about COVID-19 mitigation strategies.

The Iowa Board of Medicine voted unanimously at an emergency meeting Friday to call on Gov. Kim Reynolds to issue a formal shelter-in-place order.

At least thirty-eight other states already have an order that requires people to only leave their home if necessary.

A federal government report has found Iowa’s Medicaid program didn’t fully comply with state and federal requirements for reporting serious injuries and even the deaths of developmentally disabled Iowans.

Iowa businesses, school districts and citizens continue to respond to the escalating COVID-19 pandemic. We'll be posting updates as more news regarding the spread of the virus in Iowa becomes available here for the week of March 29-April 4. 

Advocates who work with the state’s refugee and immigrant population say the group has faced some additional challenges as more COVID-19 cases are confirmed in the state.

Iowa businesses, school districts and citizens continue to respond to the escalating COVID-19 pandemic. We'll be posting updates as more news regarding the spread of the virus in Iowa becomes available here for the week of March 22-28.

Iowa businesses, school districts and citizens continue to respond to the escalating COVID-19 pandemic. Updates and news regarding the spread of the virus in Iowa for the week of March 15-21 are available here. 

Department of Human Services officials told lawmakers Wednesday that it doesn’t plan to release the millions it’s withholding from one of the state’s Medicaid managed care organizations until 75 percent of provider claims are reprocessed.

The Iowa House has passed five bills related to increasing access to childcare.

Iowa health officials have identified five additional "presumptive positive" cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. This brings the total cases to eight in Iowa.

Iowa’s first three presumptive cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, have been detected in Johnson County, Gov. Kim Reynolds announced Sunday.

The state Department of Public Health is asking Iowans who have recently traveled to certain countries where the novel coronavirus is spreading to self-isolate for two weeks.

A new report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation found the Iowa economy loses close to a billion dollars annually due to childcare issues.

The Iowa Department of Public Health says it is taking steps to monitor COVID-19 after federal officials say they expect the virus to spread in the U.S.

An email released from the Department of Human Services Monday shows a top official had knowledge of alleged controversial experiments conducted at Glenwood Resource Center.

Multiple child abuse reports to the Department of Human Services were mishandled leading up to the death of West Des Moines teenager Natalie Finn, according to a report released Monday by the state government ombudsman's office.

An Iowa Senate commerce subcommittee has advanced a bill that would require both of the state’s Medicaid managed care organizations to use the same process for approving payments to providers.

A report released this week has found Iowa has made improvements when it comes to dealing with public health emergencies.

Democratic caucus frontrunners Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and former South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg have requested the recanvassing of a total of 85 Iowa caucus precincts. 

Monday was the deadline for campaigns to request a recanvass, which is narrower than a recount and involves rechecking the precinct worksheets. 

A subcommittee of the House judiciary committee heard testimony on Wednesday for a bill that would put a cap on the amount of damages awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.

The bill would make $250,000 the maximum amount a jury could award for non-economic damages. The cap would not impact economic damages awarded for lost wages or healthcare costs.

The Iowa Department of Public Health says it has identified two people in the state who are undergoing evaluation and testing for the coronavirus. 

State medical director Caitlin Pedati said in a press conference on Facebook Live Wednesday afternoon that the two people are in isolation and are being tested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Iowa has a lot of room for improvement when it comes to preventing tobacco use, according to a new report by the American Lung Association. 

The Annual State of Tobacco Control report gave Iowa low grades in nearly every category. This includes failing grades for its tobacco prevention and control program funding and for the amount it taxes tobacco products.