Letter: Gov. Reynolds and failed testing

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Letter writer Hugh Espey says Gov. Kim Reynolds has failed in Iowa’s COVID-19 testing. 

Hugh Espey

Gov. Kim Reynolds is rushing to reopen Iowa even though her COVID-19 testing is like the “Twilight Zone.”

Public health experts say that any reopening must include physical distancing, widespread testing for COVID-19 and contact tracing. But Reynolds is ignoring all of this.

Her testing plan, for example, is a mess. It reminds me of the “Twilight Zone.” It’s hard to believe.

She squandered six weeks of quarantine before taking the advice of scientific experts — no wait! a Hollywood actor — to provide a multimillion dollar no-bid contract to an out-of-state firm.

And then, we saw hard-to-get appointments, accidentally destroyed testing samples and in some cases, up to 40 percent “inconclusive” results.

Now, she shut down testing in a hot spot — Sioux City — to reopen it in Sioux County. Is this for real, or is it a bad dream?

We averaged fewer than 3,500 tests per day in May. At this rate, the 500,000 people registered for tests won’t all get tested until late September, but Reynolds is promising anyone who wants one can get a test. Unbelievable.

The governor is failing us, but Rod Serling would be very impressed.