Slowing the spread by staying home

The COVID-19 pandemic con-tinues to be at the top of eve-ryone’s mind. We’re all adjust-ing to a new normal—talking, thinking and acting differently than we did just a month ago.

We must stay the course, following the best advice of our public health experts. The Coronavirus Task Force has extended its Slow the Spread campaign through the end of April. Please do all you can to make it effective. Most im-portant: Stay home. Limiting contact with others is the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones.

To that end, Democratic Legislative leaders have called on the Governor to send a clear message about the serious nature of this pandemic by immediately issuing at statewide stay-at-home-order. The re-quest was made after hearing from Iowa medical profession-als, watching confirmed cases increase by more than 450 percent since last week and receiving mounting complaints about the shortage of testing and medical equipment.

This is undeniably a difficult time. Many essential workers are in harm’s way, taking care of others and doing important jobs to ensure the rest of us have what we need. Mean-while, small businesses are struggling to stay afloat, and tens of thousands of Iowans suddenly find themselves with no resources to provide for their families.

Senate Democrats have put together a COVID webpage at seate.iowa.gov/democrats/covid-19 with helpful resources for the many challenges Iowans are facing right now. It also pro-vides links to information that will keep you up to date on the evolving situation, with more being added as information becomes availa-ble.

Sen. Amanda Ragan (D-Mason City) serves Franklin, Butler and Cerro Gordo counties in Senate District 27. She can be reached at 515-281-3371 or 641-424-0874. Email her at aman-da.ragan@legis.iowa.gov.