JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa City school district says 127 students and five staff members tested positive for the coronavirus or are presumed positive. That has prompted the district to close 11 classrooms and quarantine more than 660 students and 16 staff members due to exposure.
The district was dealing with the infections as Gov. Kim Reynolds maintained Wednesday at a news conference that the virus is not transmitted in schools. Reynolds noted she wasn’t familiar with the Iowa City situation. A school district spokeswoman said over the past few weeks contact tracing for confirmed virus cases in school buildings has revealed an increase in the number of students identified as close contacts to confirmed cases.