Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds on Friday issued a new health proclamation that relaxes much of the state’s COVID-19 regulations.
Among the policy reversals in the proclamation of the public health disaster is the removal of the indoor mask requirements in public spaces and the social distance requirements that previously regulated the restrictions on social gatherings and enterprises. The new policy will take effect on Sunday at 12:01, reports KCCI.
In the document, Reynolds states: “I strongly encourage all businesses or other employers to remain open with personal activities under the circumstances of each institution to take reasonable measures to ensure the health of employees, patrons and members of the public, including social distance practices, increased hygiene practices and other social health measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. “
Reynolds’ office said in a statement that the new measures would continue to critically ease the regulatory continuation of those at the forefront of COVID19 recovery for a further 30 days. ‘
It remains unclear why Reynolds decided to weaken coronavirus restrictions, and the governors’ office did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Shortly after the announcement, ‘CovidKim’ started tweeting while social media users criticized the governor’s actions.
So reckless. Such a bad decision by @IAGouverneur #CovidKim when we are 47th in the country for vaccination rates and 16th for COVID-19 per capita. https://t.co/Vykuon2FpI
– heide (@hthrnnclrk) 6 February 2021
I. Can not. Even. More. It is so surprisingly irresponsible with the new variants already appearing in the state. I estimate 5,000 deaths is not enough #CovidKim. https://t.co/k6bqL1XaeC
– Theresa Wilson (@IowaMsAnthrope) 5 February 2021
#CovidKim be like https://t.co/MS4RaDaNwA pic.twitter.com/nJ5RHIgsqM
– Kevin Gannon misses Grogu (@TheTattooedProf) 6 February 2021
Although the state has experienced a decline in coronavirus cases in recent months, 804 confirmed new cases of the virus were recorded Friday morning, the Des Moines Register reported.
According to the Iowa Department of Health, the state has experienced 323,516 coronavirus cases and 5,067 deaths from the virus since the pandemic began. In the past seven days, 7.1 percent of the tests came back positive.