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Covid19 Journey Day 38


April 28, 2020

Today’s observation – Well today, Governor Reynold reported that Iowa has six thousand three hundred and seventy-six confirmed cases of Covid with one hundred thirty-six related deaths. Five hundred and eight new cases popped up yesterday. That’s a jump of 8% in one day. I wonder how this reflects her flattening the curve strategy. The positive case graph on the state website looks seismic to me.  The bumps in confirmed cases come largely from outbreaks in factories and meat processing plants.  To be called an outbreak, there must be at least 10% of employees affected and ill. There must be hundreds of anxious blue-collar workers, ambivalent about their job and wondering how they can get fired and draw unemployment. Three Tyson meat processing plants on the list so far, and just yesterday, a Bridgestone plant that makes gigantic tractor tires reported workers testing positive.
The governor is not doing any interventions, she announced that she will leave the management of the outbreak with the company executives.  Shouldn’t this be a public health issue? When interviewed, county supervisors from the affected areas commented that they have no legal authority to close a plant down, and if they did, the governor could override them. Maybe the state constitution has added a lot of hand-tying amendments over the years to keep Big Ag immune from typical regulations and common-sense public policy. I read that Iowa supplies a third of the nation’s pork, there are more pigs than people in the state.  Reynolds has declared that meat processing plants are essential businesses. Do the workers feel like they are as critical as those in health care? Their pay checks don’t reflect that.  And I wonder what OSHA will make of the debacle as more and more get ill?  They are probably pork barreled into the essential business declaration.  They could consider this plague a divine sign from above that they need to put the kibosh on industrialized pig farming.  It has always seemed like a grievous sin to me. Now could be a good pivot point, given that the plant slowdowns and closures will force pig farmers to cull about seven hundred thousand hogs a week any way. Already they have drafted a plea to Pence asking for indemnities to keep their boats afloat. Enjoy your bacon while you can, brothers and sisters!
The governor also proclaimed that as of May 1, she is lifting restrictions on religious gatherings in all Iowa counties with no occupancy caps. Again, she makes a broad decree and shifts the logistics to downstream decision-makers. It is the diocese and churches who figure out how to implement reasonable public health measures for their congregations. The Catholics were first to announce they would remain in the suspension of masses until a vaccine comes available or more widespread testing and contact tracing are in place. (I heard that contact tracers are being recruited by the dozens now.)  And while Zoom services have become popular with most churches, some are doing drive-in style services.  That is something I would like to witness, concentric semi-circles of pickup trucks around a Megatron screen.  
I have begun to discern elements of the leadership style of Kim Reynolds in watching her briefings.  She projects an autocratic approach that takes on the persona of a high school principal addressing her student body or the PTA. Her ensemble makes me think that she has borrowed some fashion tips from Ivanka Trump.  But make no bones about this, she is all business, like a duck in water – gliding along the surface like it was oiled glass while her legs are paddling furiously below. She must be sweating bullets; seven more long term care facilities have outbreaks.  And as she calmly announces that restaurants, fitness centers, and malls can reopen at 50% capacity and blah, blah, blah, I am imagining her evenings - when she kicks off those leopard print pumps, throw her red blazer over a chair, pours a scotch and takes a Lexapro or Zoloft as she settles into a favorite recliner to watch Margaret Thatcher videos or reruns of  The Voice.  
Oh yeah, the governor announced Pass the Pork program to connect pig farmers with food banks, and the FFA (Future Farmers of America) chapters have been invited to partner with Volunteer Iowa to help since the youngsters are practically immune to this virus. Let the cull begin!

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