Ionia Sentinel-Standard IONIA — Ionia County has declared a local state of emergency effective Tuesday, April 6, due to the rise in COVID-19 cases. The main purpose of Ionia County declaring the local state of emergency is to continue having virtual public meetings due to the rise in COVID-19 cases, said Emergency Manager Sgt. William Hoskins. “With the state's State of Emergency now expired, we needed to do this in order to remain eligible for the Open Meetings Act exemption that allows for virtual public meetings,” Hoskins stated in an email. Ionia County continues to see increasing levels of positive test per million people with the seven-day average as of March 29 increasing from 144 to 293, according to the local emergency declaration.