Gov. Reynolds to end COVID health proclamation & decommission state's COVID website

DES MOINES, Iowa (KGAN) — Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the state is expiring the public health proclamation on Tuesday, February 15 and two COVID-19 data websites, coronavirus.iowa.gov and vaccinateiowa.gov, will both decommission the next day.

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has been tracking COVID-19 on the website since 2020, when the pandemic first began.

The state says "information will remain accessible online through other state and federal resources."

IDPH Director Kelly Garcia says COVID-19 data will look different.

“The new format will include data points that Iowans are used to seeing, but moves us closer to existing reporting standards for other respiratory viruses," Garcia said. "This new phase also assures that our teams, who have been deeply committed to the COVID-19 response, can return to their pre-pandemic responsibilities, and refocus on areas where the pandemic has taken a hard toll.”

In a release sent out Thursday, Reynolds says IDPH will report information weekly on its website similar to how flu activity is reported.

Data will include positive tests since March 2020 and in the last seven days, cases by county, an epidemiologic curve, variants by week and deaths since March 2020. Vaccine information, including total series and boosters completed, demographics for fully vaccinated Iowans, and vaccination by county, will also be reported.

Reynolds says nearly half of U.S. States have already discontinued public health proclamations and more are set to expire in February.

“We cannot continue to suspend duly enacted laws and treat COVID-19 as a public health emergency indefinitely. After two years, it’s no longer feasible or necessary. The flu and other infectious illnesses are part of our everyday lives, and coronavirus can be managed similarly,” Gov. Reynolds said. “State agencies will now manage COVID-19 as part of normal daily business, and reallocate resources that have been solely dedicated to the response effort to serve other important needs for Iowans.”