While some Democrat politicians are calling for a shelter-in-place, Governor Reynolds says she is looking at the data and following the advice of public health experts who say that such a measure is not necessary at this time. Governor Reynolds has stated that her decision could change depending on what new data shows.
Governor Reynolds has already taken significant action to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 such as closing non-essential businesses, suspending non-essential surgeries, and encouraging Iowans to stay at home and practice social distancing.
While many states have issued formal “shelter-in-place” orders, they often don’t do much more than what’s already being done in Iowa. In fact, some of the actions that Governor Reynolds has taken are oftentimes stronger than what other states have done even though they have a formal order in place.
Some of the additional reasons against a shelter-in-place order in Iowa include:
- Iowa’s population density is much smaller than most states (The New York City metro area’s population density is nearly 100x larger than Iowa’s)
- Iowa does not utilize mass public transit which often spreads disease
- Iowa does not have large apartment buildings where thousands of people live
- A shelter-in-place order would strain local law enforcement resource.
