Gazette Daily News Briefing, June 29th

This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk and I’m here with your update for Monday, June 29, 2020.

Today’s going to be a hot one with a high of 91 and a heat index as high as 100. It’ll be cloudy, with a chance of rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon, but it should clear up and we’ll get some sun later on. There’s also a flood warning until 10pm tonight.

The number of coronavirus cases in Iowa rose yesterday to 28,430 total cases in the state of Iowa, the total deaths attributed to coronavirus stands at 704.

While the number of cases continues to rise, as of yesterday, the whole state of Iowa went over 24 hours without a coronavirus death for the first time since the beginning of March.

You can also find the rest of our coronavirus coverage at our dedicated coronavirus page, TheGazette.com/coronavirus.

12 more brands of bagged salad have been added to Hy-Vee’s recall. The recall now includes

• Southwest Chopped Salad Kit

• Shredded Iceberg

• Veggie Deluxe Salad

• Greener Supreme Blend

• American Blend Salad

• Italian Blend Salad

• Coleslaw Mix

• Romaine Garden Salad

• Asian Chopped Salad Kit

• Sunflower Chopped Salad Kit

• Chipotle Cheddar Chopped Kit

• Garden Salad

• Avocado Ranch Chopped Kit.

If you purchased any of these, you can call Hy-Vee customer service representatives at 1-800-772-4098.

After saying masks shouldn't be required in Iowa schools, Iowa school leaders say guidance needs 'clarification'. The department said more information will be released in the “near future,” though it repeated it does not recommend that masks be required when K-12 classes resume, presumably in August. On Friday, the department issued another statement saying, “We recognize that face masks can be an important tool to help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.”

But, it said, neither it nor the Iowa Department of Public Health recommend that public and private schools require masks for all students and staff “because of the considerable implications for such a policy.”

River in Cedar Rapids forecast to recede.Despite weekend rains, the river in Cedar Rapids was projected to drop below the 12-foot minor flood stage this morning. The Nationa Weather Service says it expects to let the flood warning for the area expire and the city said it expects to reopen boat ramps. The weather service said there also were reports out of Tiffin of about 4 inches of water running across Highway 6 and 10 inches of water on Railroad Street.

There also were reports of heavy rains in North Liberty and in the Oakdale area.

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That’s it for today’s update. Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette Daily news podcast, or just tell your Amazon Alexa to “enable The Gazette Daily News skill" so you can get your daily briefing by simply saying “Alexa, what’s the news?"