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>> We've been experiencing a new surge of Covid-19 cases that has driven our hospitalizations up significantly. Iowa is not alone. States across the country are experiencing much of the same. Since November 1st more than 37,000 new cases have been reported at an average positivity rate of 21.8% statewide. New cases were primarily among adults 23% among adults ages 18 to 29. 16% were among adults in their 30s. 15% were in their 40s and 14% were in their 50s. Older adults in their 60s, 70s and above the age of 80 accounted for a combined 20% of our new cases. And 11% of the cases were among children under the age of 18. While the highest number of new cases, smaller, RURL counties are far exceeding them when we compare cases by population per 100,000. For a population of 100,000. When you compare that to Pocahontas county which had 143 new cases which is the equivalent of 1,122 cases for a population of 100,000. Significant community spread across our entire state both in our metro and RURL communities. Covid-19 does not discriminate based on geography the virus is present in all of our communities and all of us can help stop its spread. Yesterday, 1,208 Iowans were in a hospital accounting for 21% of all hospitalizations statewide. While 215 covid patients were in icus another 3,034 ICU beds were open and available. 101 patients required the use of a ventilator, which accounts for just 25% of the ventilators that are available statewide. We continue to closely monitor hospitalizations throughout each day to ensure that resources remain stable. Recent news coverage has warned Iowans that hospital beds in some areas are full suggesting that people may not be able to receive care. My team and BPH is in regular contact with health systems and hospital systems and they assure the team and me that that is not the case In fact, most hospitals are continuing to provide elective surgeries and some have scaled back to open beds for more patients as needed. Reducing elective surgeries is one way to expand capacity when necessary and hospitals are monitoring that closely on a daily basis and postponing some scheduled procedures. As we've known from the beginning, Covid-19 has the most serious impact on the health of older adults and people of any age that have pre-existing conditions. And we see them. Older adults continue to experience more serious illness requiring hospitalizatio Currently Covid-19 hospitalized patients are age 60 and older. 23% are 60 to 69 years of age and another 23% are age 70 to 79 and 26% are 80 or older. 12% of hospital patients are in their 50s. 7% in their 40s and 5% in their 30s and hospitalizations are extremely low among children and younger adults. Currently, only 1% of hospital patients are under the age of 18. And another 1% are age 18 to 29. Because of the significant increase in hospitalizations at this time, we will be updating the hospital data reported on Coronavirus .iwowa.com to include the age demographics of confirmed Covid-19 hospitalizations. The new data will also include a br breakdown of daily hospitalizations by age since July 23rd when the data was first required to be corrected and reported to the U.S. department of health and human services. The age groups will also be categorized differently, primarily by decade with the exception of children which will remain defined as 0 to 17 years of age. These new categories will offer more specific information, not only about hospitalization, but new cases, as well. The age group change will be applied across all data on the site where age is reported. Additionally, information is provided for hospital patients by day who had either a primary or a secondary Covid-19 diagnosis. So, a primary diagnosis means that the patient's Covid-19 illness was serious enough for them to require hospitalization. A secondary diagnosis means that the patient was admitted to the hospital for a different reason, but tested positive for Covid-19. This new data is intended, again, to provide additional context to help Iowans to understand more about the impact of Covid-19 and the risk to specific individuals. The current rmcc data will continue to be provided on the site, as well. And the update will occur those that I just spoke about will occur this evening. So as we discussed on Tuesday, the surge in new cases has prompted some schools to consider temporarily moving to a different learning model whether that means moving from full-time, in-person learning to a hybrid model or requesting a waiver that allows virtual learning for a period of time. Ask director to provide me today to provide a further update. Ann? >> Since Tuesday we received 19 requests to provide remote instruction all of which were approved. 43 districts are currently operating with a waiver representing 9.6% of Iowa schools. All waiver requests and supporting documentation are available on our website as soon as they are processed. On Tuesday, we sent out some important reminders to superintendents about remote instruction and the waiver process. And we have scheduled a webinar for Friday to help clarify all the options available and answer any follow-up questions on the recent proclamation and the impact it may have on their school activities. To support school leaders in making the best decisions for their districts, we want to continue to make Iowa department of education and resources and advice available in as many ways as possible. Because requesting a waiver is just one option for schools and there are many adjustments schools can make without needing additional approval from the department, we continue to encourage schools to contact us, to help them work through solutions. We know that sports and activities play an important role in our schools and communities and we're also working with districts on options that allow them to do what is best for the students and the families they serve. To our school administrators, again, if you have questions about how to do what you have determined is best for your community, please reach out to us. We can help you find the best path forward. Thank you. >> Thank you, ann. I appreciate everything you and your team are doing to help schools navigate these important decisions. So, today, test Iowa sites are back open after being closed for veterans day and each site has added 200 more appointments to their daily schedules. The five-state operated drive-through sites can test a combined 4,040 Iowans daily Monday through Friday or 20,200 each week. 1,000 appointments will be available at the Des Moines site. 840 each at the sites in cedar rapids, davenport aWaterloo. With combined with the clinic sites and the university and clinic partnerships, Test Iowa has generated 6,000 tests a day proving to be a valuable asset in our state's response to Covid-19. Nearly 400,000 Iowans has used Test Iowa since the first site opened on April 25th. That's 37% of all Iowans tested in our state. Over time we continued to increase capacity, not only at sites so we can serve more people, but also at the state hygienic lab so that more tests which is an important component of this can be processed more quickly with results reported in less than 24 hours at some times. Even now, there are still states that struggle with testing capacity and we're extremely fortunate to have the strong, public, partnership with our team at the state hygienic lab and its arer important that it continues. As you know, our contract with Naomi health ensured the delivery of 40,000 Covid-19 test kits at a time when testing supplies were scarce and in high demand across the country. We've received all of the tests that we contracted for and we have approximately 140,000 remaining, which we anticipate the supply will take us through December 11th. Because our contract extend through April, 2021, we have amended it to include the purchase of 360,000 additional sample collection kits for the Test Iowa program. The collection kits are the same that are currently used and include the swab and vial needed to collect and store samples that are transported from each site to the lab. Each kit also includes a bar code that uNAEKly identifies the sample and matches it to the individual tested. This is how each sample is tracked through the entire lab process and also what enables us to report results back to individuals electronically through the Test Iowa system. Each kit costs $9.50 for a total of $3.42 million that equates to about $1.08 per Iowans to enable Test Iowa to continue operations while testing remains a critical compopant to the health of our people and state recovery. The lab to process the samples will now be supplied by the state hygienic lab at a cost of $19.80 per test through the lab's existing contract. Which means the state's cost to test over Iowan that comes through is $29.30. We believe that is well worth the investment. Earlier this year when there were shortages in the testing supply chain, we contracted with the health for the collection kit and the PCR kit for the test Iowa program. But now that the supply chain has stabilized and strengthened, the lab can use the same type of test kit for all molecular test including test Iowa, which will create even greater operational efficiencies at the state hygienic lab further adding to the value of Iowa's testing strategy. On Tuesday, I announced additional mitigation measures that are now in place to help us flatten the curve and get Covid-19 to a level that we can manage while continuing to move forward with life. Each of us has the ability to make a difference over the next few weeks and I believe we all want the end of this month to look a lot different than it did when it started and together we can make that happen and we must. Finally, I want to congratulate Iowa's high school football team for a season well played, especially those heading to the dome to compete for a state title. It's always a privilege to make it this far, but never has it meant more than it does this year. The tournament provides a sense of normalcy for the athletes, coaches and families who have worked so hard to get their teams thus far. You had the opportunity to play and many teams across the nation have not. But we don't want to take that for granted. I'm asking you all to do your part to practs and play safely and for families and fans to be responsible spectators. The university of northern Iowa and the high school athletic association have gone to great lengths to provide a safe environment for both players and fans, including capping capacity to better enable social distancing, requiring masks in the arena and on the concourse and doing additional disinfection throughout. Please follow the guidelines in place at the dome and if you go to the local restaurant, a bar or store afterwards, continue to practice the public health measures that will protect you and others. And while you're working hard to win your games, let's not forget that together we have an even bigger battle to win and there's no victory more important than the one against Covid-19. So, be responsible, play hard and enjoy the opportun