Nearly 1,300 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Iowa over the weekend, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health. As of Sunday, Iowa has had 9,169 confirmed cases and 184 deaths. In total, 53,186 people in the state have been tested. Washington County has 148 cases as of Sunday and of those 111 people have recovered. The county has had seven people die from the upper respiratory virus. In total, 746 Washington County residents have been tested so far.

Washington County is one of the 22 counties that are to continue restrictions through May 15th, per the governor’s direction. Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator Marissa Reisen says people should maintain the practices in place including social distancing and washing hands frequently, “Just need to keep plugging away the way we have been. We’re doing a good job of following the restrictions that are in place and just keep in mind that this is all for everyone’s health and safety. And even though it might not be fun or pleasant, it is getting us to a better point and we still have ways to enjoy the local food establishments and some of the things that we normally do, it’s just in a very different way from what we see as normal.”

Some restrictions in 77 counties were lifted as of May 1st, including allowing restaurants and some stores to reopen at 50% capacity. The counties with extended restrictions include Washington, Henry, Louisa, Johnson, and Iowa counties locally, as well as Allamakee, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Dallas, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fayette, Jasper, Linn, Marshall, Muscatine, Polk, Poweshiek, Scott, Tama, and Woodbury counties.