IowaBio wants to provide our members useful information during the COVID-19 pandemic. This newsletter compiles information on state, federal and industry action to combat the virus and its impacts.

If your company is helping respond to COVID-19, IowaBio wants to know about it. Please, send any information about what your biotechnology company or organization is doing to help, to Jessica Hyland at Jessica@iowabio.org.

If IowaBio can assist you in getting information out, connecting with public officials, or support your company in another way, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Past IowaBio COVID-19 Update newsletters are now available at www.iowabio.org/COVID19 and can be found under the Industry News tab on the IowaBio website.

Iowa Update
Yesterday Governor Reynolds’ office announced that Test Iowa sites in Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Marshalltown that closed Monday after sustaining damage due to severe weather across the state, reopened for testing yesterday from 1 to 6 p.m. Regular hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. will resume today.

Test Iowa will honor appointments for anyone who was scheduled to test earlier this week but unable to due to weather conditions. There is no need to reschedule. Individuals should bring the QR code they received to any of the 8 drive-thru sites operated by the State at any time to be tested at their convenience. Sites are located in Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Marshalltown, Storm Lake, Waterloo and West Des Moines. Sites are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
 
Iowans who may be scheduled for testing later this week, but are unable to keep their appointment time due to storm-related conflicts, can also bring their QR code to these same sites at any time to be tested when they are able.  
 
Test Iowa staff are ready to accommodate all appointments and ensure that Iowans who were scheduled, are tested as soon as possible. 
 
Locations and hours of operation for all test sites can be found at testiowa.com or coronavirus.iowa.gov.
 
Some statistics on Iowa’s coronavirus dashboard may be temporarily affected by these test site closures.
 
Key Statistics

Iowa
Currently, IDPH has reported on the state’s coronavirus dashboard, 50,003 Iowans have tested positive, up 482 from our update yesterday morning, with a total of 535,885 tested.  8 additional deaths were reported since our last update, bringing the total to 954 deaths. Now 39,214 Iowans have recovered. The latest on hospitalizations, including how many patients have been admitted in the last 24 hours can be found here. The per county percentage positivity rates and school district statistics can be found here.

US
Total Cases 5,119,711
Total Deaths 163,651

World
Total Cases 20,648,298
Total Deaths 750,030

BIO Pipeline Tracker
708 Unique compounds in development
181 vaccines
207 antivirals
320 treatments