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Iowa infectious disease doctors question state's 'handcuffing' of local governments - Iowa Capital Dispatch

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Dr. Megan Srinivas, an infectious disease doctor, appeared on "Iowa Press" in May 2021. (Screenshot via Iowa PBS)

An Iowa infectious disease physician said the state’s ban on local government mask mandates is “very concerning” and leaves local experts “handcuffed” in the battle against COVID-19.

Iowa lawmakers approved a bill banning schools, cities or counties from issuing mask mandates more stringent than the state rules. Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the bill in a middle-of-the-night photo op with supporters.

In an appearance on last weekend’s edition of “Iowa Press” on Iowa PBS, Dr. Megan Srinivas said that move takes the power out of the hands that know the local situation best.

“It’s very concerning because a lot of what happens, when it comes to any type of control, whether it’s a pandemic or a local outbreak, really needs to be looking at the local statistics, the local transmission issues and thus put into place local rules to control immediately anything that might occur,” Srinivas said. “With our local populations now being really handcuffed in this fight against the pandemic, it’s going to create larger obstacles for the state to have to overcome in the long-term.”

The issue also speaks to public health matters revolving around those who don’t believe in vaccinations, Srinivas added. “If it is the parents’ choice, then we have a problem with that child who might have been exposed, who might be at higher risk of being exposed because their parents might not believe in vaccination or masking, then being the person that brings the virus into school — and the mask only protects those really around you, not the wearer themselves,” she said. 

Srinivas, ran for the Iowa House as a Democrat in 2018. Reynolds is a Republican.

Dr. Leyla Best is an infectious disease specialist for UnityPoint Des Moines. (Screenshot via Iowa PBS)

Dr. Leyla Best, an infectious disease specialist for UnityPoint Des Moines, who also appeared on the “Iowa Press” show, said the fact that young children have not been eligible for COVID-19 vaccines makes her “very concerned” about the new state legislation banning local mask mandates.

“Kids are not fully vaccinated yet. They can still transmit the infection. And remember that we still have these pockets of folks that are considered vulnerable in the community, maybe grandparents or parents who are on medications or have a decreased immune system. We don’t know how strong of an immune system they can develop against the vaccine. And so we need to be very cautious with that. And it was kind of surprising to me that this happened two weeks from the end of the school year.” 

A reporter asked the doctors to respond to the argument that uniform state rules might be better for the whole state in a pandemic.

Best started by saying the state botched pandemic communications from the start.

“When you ask me that, I kind of start thinking about what I felt has been a failure throughout the whole pandemic and it has been the miscommunication, the lack of alignment between the message that the science experts, the health care providers are getting with the lawmakers’ message. And this is what is creating a lot of confusion in the community,” Best said. 

Srinivas said the state has inappropriately cut off health experts from the policy, which was the opposite of what happened in outbreaks of Hepatitis A, E-coli and salmonella. 

“This pandemic has really presented a unique situation where we have siloed people who are experts in the subject matter away from the policy-making aspect,” she said. “The fact that the science is being turned into a partisan issue is really concerning and it has been throughout this pandemic.”

Srinivas also questioned state policy-makers’ contention that they needed to protect people’s livelihoods, something that critics said got more emphasis than saving lives. Reynolds regularly adjusted restrictions, saying she was trying to balance people’s health, financial and mental needs. 

“There has been this whole false narrative that it is either livelihoods or life when in reality they go hand-in-hand,” Srivinas said. “If we had been able to follow through with a lot of these mitigation techniques such as wearing a mask we could have easily opened up Iowa a lot sooner, boost our economy, enable people to safely go about shopping, go about going to restaurants, being able to have a little bit more normalcy than we’ve had throughout this entire past year. But the issue is, if we don’t do mitigation then we’re going to have complete uncontrolled spread and that is when things need to be tightened to control the spread, save people’s lives, not overwhelm our health care system,” Srinivas said. “And having this false narrative has only created more misinformation.”

Celebrating post-pandemic life too soon?

In response to a separate question, both doctors said they fear people are returning to their previous lifestyle before enough people are vaccinated, risking a new spike in COVID-19 and its variants. A spike occurred last summer.

“We let the good times roll a little bit too soon during the summer last year … and we started to see massive spikes all over the world — and right when we’re about to get on top of it. We don’t want to let that happen again,” Srinivas said. 

Said Best: “This has been a very difficult year for everyone, even for the kids, for health care workers. So we need to keep a very open mind that we all are learning and we are actually changing policies and recommendations based on the most recent updated information from science and we need to be very open to that. “

Gov. Kim Reynolds speaks at a news conference April 14, 2021, at Iowa PBS in Johnston. (Screen shot from Iowa PBS)

Reynolds urged Iowans to “lean further into normal” earlier this month, after months of pandemic measures many criticized as lax and based on former President Donald Trump’s downplaying of the health crisis. 

“There’s no reason for us to continue to fear COVID-19 any longer,” Reynolds said at a news conference. “We know how to manage it. Individuals can be trusted to make decisions that will keep us on a path forward.”

Republican lawmakers, who had resisted mask rules throughout the pandemic, said in debates before they adjourned the session last week it is time to return to “normal life.”

“We cannot continue to live in an entire bubble and quit living because of this awful pandemic that we’re enduring,” said Sen. Carrie Koelker, R-Dyersville. Reynolds lifted the state’s limited mask requirements in February.

Srinivas noted that children as young as 12 now can get a vaccine. She is hoping that new trials will lead to younger children getting the injections before school starts in the fall.

On Monday, the New York Times reported that 42% of Iowans are fully vaccinated, and 48% have received at least one dose of vaccine. 

Seeking ‘herd immunity’

Federal health officials have said 70% of U.S. residents would need to be fully vaccinated before “herd immunity” would take place. As of Monday, 39% of U.S. residents are fully vaccinated, and 49% have received at least one dose of vaccine, the Times reported. 

Iowa has seen an average of 180 new cases a day recently, down 42% in 14 days, and an average of four deaths a day.

Since the pandemic started, the state has recorded 400,905 cases and 6,035 deaths, the Iowa Department of Public Health reported Monday. 

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