About 90 members of Dallas County’s public safety agencies — police departments, sheriff’s office, fire departments, first responders and EMS — gathered at the Dallas County Human Services campus Thursday night for a briefing on COVID-19, the novel coronavirus pandemic, hosted by the Dallas County Public Health Department and the Dallas County Emergency Management Agency.
Dallas County Public Health Director Suzanne Hegarty, Dallas County Public Health Nurse Rhonda Shoafstall and Dallas County Emergency Management Coordinator A. J. Seely hosted the 90-minute briefing. They said they have been working closely for weeks with the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hegarty said there is no “community spread” of the COVID-19 virus anywhere in Iowa at this time. All 14 confirmed cases of the disease in Iowa are connected to passengers on a cruise ship tour of Egypt. The phrase “community spread” means the spreading of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown.
Hegarty said the public health department has plans in place for three possible phases of the pandemic. Phase one is preparedness, in which efforts aim to limit the scope of the virus. She said Dallas County is currently in phase one. Phase two would involve the management of a localized outbreak, and phase three would bring a response to community spread.
The differences between voluntary and mandatory quarantine, voluntary and mandatory isolation and self-quarantine were also explained, with volunteers from the audience helping to illustrate the relations.
Seely outlined several “operational objectives” of the coordinated emergency response to the pandemic. These goals include:
- protection of the public and of emergency responders
- management of resources, such as personal protective equipment
- “droplet precautions”
- gathering and disseminating information to the public
- supporting the continuity of county operations and continuity of county government in the case of a virulent outbreak
- development of an action plan
Shoafstall discussed the practicalities of personal protective equipment: face masks, goggles, gloves and gowns. She said the N95 filtering face piece respirator is the go-to gear to avoid contamination by the bodily fluids of a victim.
The emergency responders in the audience asked a number of technical questions about protocols and procedures, sparking a lively discussion. The Dallas County Public Health Department has created a web page filled with resources related to COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.
Other public-sector precautions and preparations were also on foot across Iowa Thursday. The IDPH issued guidance Thursday to PK-12 school administrators on COVID-19 policies as the Des Moines Public Schools announced the suspension of classes from March 13 to March 30, and the Iowa City Community School District weighed a similar move.
In the Perry Community School District, spring break begins Friday, March 13, and classes are scheduled to resume Monday, March 23. PCSD Superintendent Clark Wicks said the district will monitor the state of the coronavirus in Iowa over the course of break and will make decisions during the week-long recess about possible district actions in response.
In other states, all public schools in Maryland and Ohio will close for two weeks beginning March 16, those states’ governors announced Thursday. Kentucky appears to be poised to follow suit.
The University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa announced Wednesday the cancellation of all in-person classes between March 23 and April 3. Drake University will also suspend face-to-face classes during the same period. The Des Moines Area Community College also announced schedule changes Wednesday.
“The health and safety of our students, teachers and faculty is a top priority,” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said in a statement Thursday. “At this time, the Iowa Department of Public Health is not advising any school closures. We are finalizing key decision points needed to mitigate COVID-19 to provide school districts with thorough guidance.”
There is no pandemic. This is fake. This ia martial law. Authority that fearmongers is terrorism. Tests for covid19 are completely faulty. The authority for a police state is WHO. The director is a terrorist. The saying eat your dinner, children in ethiopia are dying came from the director of WHO. he is THE GUY that starved them in the 1980s. Thats the authority figure by which a worldwide dicatatorship is being mandated. First responders will be appointed dictatorally by idph because of a fictional pandemic which has been planned for many years by the john hipkins university who authored these model state emergency health powers act. Obama was the chief sponsor of the illinois act 93-8029. He was selected to be president to usher in this new world order. Anyone who takes this COG bribe miney and upholds this dictatorship is a traitor. There is a vast jewish/satanic/masonic/illuminati/zionist conspiracy. We are now in their revelations stage. Those participating in these egregious acts are their goy pawns. In the talmud, they can marry a girl of 3 and one day. Under that age, sex means nothing it is like sticking your finger in an eye. These are the pedophiles. These vampires who by the way are really going to crack down on easter, or purim, their blood sacrfice day. We will be in full fledged martial law over a fake pandemic around the world. The goal is in the UN zionist created agenda 21 stack and pack. Read that for a hoot. Lawyers need to challenge these public emergencies acts NOW but i fear their license to practice law are being threatened. We are in serious shit. The media, Hollywood, frb, the entire govt has been overtaken by this vermin. They are elitists. They believe they are from Abel and everyone else are devils from Cain. Read the talmud. Do not endorce martial law. You must stop. Someone must stand up and stop this insanity. There is no threat. The FACT is people are 800 times more likely to die from a doctor and 10 times more likely to die from aspirin. The fact is this has to do with event 201 sponsored by jhu and id2020. There will be chips or radio frequency micromatter in vaccines that wull be forced on everyone. Dissenters will be considered contaminated and no one will ever see then agsin like the uyghurs in china. Chinese are being drug out of their apts by force by ppl with hazmat suits. Peoples cars are being stolen and people are being hauled off never to be seen agsin because they sneeze, cough, sniffle or hug. We are literally living in a police state where we are considered a corona terrorist if we give someone a hug??????? What is wrong with this picture? Furthermore, this has everything to do with financial reset, destroying the middle class by bottoming out the stock market, creating a digital bank and changing to amero in the relief act. This is not relief. This is a complete welfare state with counterfeit money being printed on a whim. Money is fake, this entire system is fake, and this covid-19 is something everyone gets at dome point in their life according to webmd.