Iowa state government and Capitol news items | Govt-and-politics – Quad City Times

DHS DIRECTOR TO LEAD PUBLIC HEALTH: Kelly Garcia, director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, was charged by Gov. Kim Reynolds to also serve as interim director of the state public health department.

Garcia, who has directed DHS since November, replaces former public health director Gerd Clabaugh, who is retiring on July 31.

“Kelly Garcia has done an outstanding job at DHS, and her expertise and work ethic will bring great value to IDPH,” Reynolds said in a news release. “This is an opportunity to increase cooperation and collaboration between these two agencies to better serve Iowans. I also want to express my continued gratitude to IDPH, DHS employees for their efforts during these unprecedented times.”

IOWA ADDED TO NEW YORK TRAVEL ADVISORY: Iowa was one of eight states added to New York’s travel advisory, which requires any individuals traveling from those states to quarantine for two weeks.

According to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office, the state’s travel advisory applies to travelers from any state “with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average.”

“As an increasing number of states around the country fight significant community spread, New York is taking action to maintain the precarious safety of its phased, data-driven reopening,” Cuomo said in a statement. “We’ve set metrics for community spread, just as we’ve set metrics for everything the state does to fight COVID-19, and eight more states have reached the level of spread required to qualify for New York’s travel advisory.”