This weekend will be the first that personal protective equipment will not be sent to counties across the state due to a dramatic decrease in requests for this equipment, Gov. Kim Reynolds said Friday. 

Many orders for PPE that were placed in March have just now arrived in the state, and while there is less of a need, Reynolds said, the equipment is stockpiled and hospitals no longer require additional resources. 

In regions five and six where Johnson and Linn Counties are located respectively, the number of ICU patients has been slightly decreasing over the last seven days, according to data on Iowa’s coronavirus website. In region five, the number of people being hospitalized has remained steady for about two weeks, but it has not significantly decreased.  

Today marks the first day in which businesses across the state are allowed to reopen. Reynolds said in the event that cases spike again, they will continue to monitor and control the virus, however, COVID-19 will always exist in the community and eradicating the virus was never the goal from the beginning. 

Reynolds added that COVID-19 has caused many Americans to change their way of life, and that high school graduation is another one of those big changes. 

“Iowa’s class of 2020 had big plans for their last semester of highschool,” Reynolds said. “Spring sports season, going to prom, final performances and musicals and concerts, awards ceremonies and graduation, but a worldwide pandemic changed all of that.”

High schools in Iowa, Reynolds said, are holding graduation ceremonies in many different ways. Some are postponing them for a later date, some are doing a virtual or drive-in ceremony, while another will hold their ceremony over a four-day period to allow their seniors to walk across the stage while maintaining social distance protocols, she said. 

Reynolds ended her press conference with offering some words of encouragement to Iowa seniors during this time. 

“Iowa’s high school seniors won’t be defined by what wasn’t,” Reynolds said. “I believe you will be recognized, instead, for your resilience in the face of adversity and your tenacity to navigate even the most unlikely circumstances.”