By Trent Rice
Mar 9, 2021
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa The head of the Iowa Restaurant Association says there s reason for optimism a full year into the COVID-19 pandemic. We ve had three grant programs, one of which we re expecting checks in-hand from the state of Iowa this week. And over the weekend, The Restaurant Revitalization Act was including the stimulus package passed in the U.S. Senate says Iowa Restaurant Association President Jessica Dunker.
She says many Iowa bars and restaurants also got help from two rounds of federal Payroll Protection Plan payments.
As for those restaurants that didn t make it through the pandemic, Dunker says empty businesses in large cities like Des Moines and Cedar Rapids will likely be taken over by another restaurant. She says that won t be the case in rural parts of Iowa.
Zach Boyden-Holmes/Des Moines Register
Gov. Kim Reynolds gets the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine
during a news conference at Iowa PBS in Johnston on Wednesday.
DES MOINESÂ â When the COVID-19 pandemic first reached Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds assured Iowans her administration was ready.
âI want Iowans to know that I am confident that we are prepared, that we take this situation seriously and we will manage it responsibly,â Reynolds said during a press conference held just after the first three cases of the virus were confirmed in Iowa, exactly one year ago Monday.
One year later, Iowa is in the bottom third of U.S. states for the most critical public health figures, but the stateâs economy and state finances appear to be strong. And opinions on the stateâs pandemic response are mixed.
Iowa Restaurant Association president optimistic after a year of COVID-19 iheart.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from iheart.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
ERIN MURPHY
DES MOINESÂ â When the COVID-19 pandemic first reached Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds assured Iowans her administration was ready.
Monday, March 8, marks the one-year anniversary of the first confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in Iowa. In the 12 months since, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 5,500 Iowans with more than 360,000 confirmed cases, according to state public health data.
Iowaâs Lee Enterprises newspapers and The Gazette in Cedar Rapids have produced a series of stories to mark the one-year anniversary of the pandemic. The series, which will run through next Sunday, March 14, will explore the devastation caused by the pandemic and the challenges it has created.