Guthrie County has about tripled its number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the past week with at least 32 so far, and local officials are urging the public to keep up social distancing guidelines.

Adair and Guthrie County Emergency Management Coordinator Bob Kempf says residents should continue the Iowa Department of Public Health’s recommended practices such as frequently washing hands for 20 seconds, covering coughs and sneezes, staying home as much as possible, and wearing a face mask in public. He explains how the increase in COVID-19 cases has occurred locally, “Well, some of the increase of course is due to exposures such as what happened with Lakeside Village. Some are due to the exposures and the testing that was done like at the Tyson plant in Perry and other employers throughout. I mean we have a lot of people that go elsewhere and work elsewhere so part is very simply due to the community spread within the general public at Guthrie County.”

Kempf thanks all those that have donated handmade face masks to Guthrie County Health Services, and he encourages anyone who doesn’t have a mask to contact their office at 641-747-3972 to pick up one at no cost.