IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – An aide to Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday that considerations for quality and defense of coronavirus testing at a hectic clinic in Dubuque led the state to decrease operations this week.
The state will send 2,000 additional kits to Dubuque County for additional testing of other clinics in the hoax to fill the void, Said Reynolds Communications Director Pat Garrett.
Dubuque announced Monday that the governor’s workplace had ordered tests at Epic Health and Wellness Clinic to open only from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday and take a hundred samples a day.
The site, a component of the governor’s $26 million Iowa Test program, processed up to 550 samples at noon and had long queues in recent weeks.
Dubuque said he hadn’t won any countries because of the changes. Garrett said that only Monday and Tuesday were changes requested “to align his procedure with other sites that run through the state” and did not specify.
Democratic lawmakers representing Dubuque at the national and federal levels reacted with outrage and questioned whether the Republican governor intentionally sought to limit the evidence to a critical point to reduce the diversity of cases.
Garrett denied it. On Wednesday, he said the state was concerned about the quality of operations on the site and ordered that it be limited to one hundred tests the next day “to specialize in the development of linked defense protocols and the quality of the testing procedure.”
Garrett said the county fitness branch will manufacture the 2,000 new check kits for other clinics. “The state of Iowa continues to be the continued best friend to address COVID-1 nine’s control capability as we continue to fight the pandemic,” he said.
City and county officials had previously said they were unaware of any quality concerns at the clinic, which didn’t return a message seeking comment.
Democratic lawmakers spoke to some other Reynolds aide on the phone Wednesday and said they cited lines that can also take up to 3 hours at the clinic as state concerns.
Dubuque County has recorded more than 1,250 times shown due to the birth of the pandemic and 2four deaths, the Iowa Department of Public Health.
State Rep. Lindsay James, a Dubuque Democrat, said she tested at the Epic Clinic in June in 30 minutes, but waiting times were highest in July. She said she hadn’t heard a valid excuse for cuts in the governor’s assistant evidence.
“The governor’s reaction deserves: “We will send you more staff, more resources and more evidence.” This is the right reaction in the middle of a pandemic,” he said. “No, oh, do you have long waiting times? Oh, we’ll take it off.” That was an excuse among many.
State Sen. Pam Jochum, Dubuque Democrat, said in a text message that other clinics in the state’s hotspots also had long lines for testing. She said speculation about the governor’s motivation to cut the evidence would continue “as they were simply freed from the tent beneath us without a tight reason.”