Update: This story was updated at 2:43 p.m. to include information from the governor’s press conference. 

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) was recently notified of an additional 19 positive cases of COVID-19, for a total of 124 positive cases in Iowa.

According to IDPH, the locations and age ranges of the 19 individuals include:

• One middle-aged adult, 41 to 60 years old, in Black Hawk County.
• One middle-aged adult, 41 to 60 years old, in Buchanan County.
• One older adult, 61to 80 years old, in Cedar County.
• One middle-aged adult, 41 to 60 years old, in Dallas County.
• One older adult, 61 to 80 years old, in Jasper County.
• One middle-aged adult, 41 to 60 years old, One older adult, 61 to 80 years old, in Johnson County.
• Two older adults, 61 to 80 years old, in Muscatine County.
• Three adults, 18 to 40 years old, one middle-aged adult, 41 to 60 years, one older adult, 61 to 80 years old, in Polk County.
• One older adult, 61 to 80 years old, in Poweshiek County.
• One older adult, 61 to 80 years old, in Story County.
• One middle-aged adult, 41 to 60 years old, in Tama County.
• One adult, 18 to 40 years old, in Warren County.
• One older adult, 61 to 80 years old, in Washington County.

A public hotline has been established for Iowans with questions and concerns involving COVID-19. The line is available 24/7 and can be accessed by calling 2-1-1 or 1-800-244-7431.

In a press conference Gov. Kim Reynolds hosted March 24, she said 17 of the individuals who tested positive were hospitalized at the time, while one person was discharged the night before.

The number of Iowans hospitalized due to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus had more than doubled since the governor’s press conference the day before.

Reynolds advised people to get information from credibly reliable sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website and their “favorite” news outlets. She said social media could be a “blessing” and a “curse” for seeking out information about COVID-19.

Reynolds did not call for a “shelter in place” order for Iowans, as some states have done.

An IDPH official, Sarah Reisetter, said “shelter in place” is not the right strategy at this time.

Iowans should think of disease-spread mitigation strategies not as a switch to be turned on and off, but a dial that can be turned up or down over time depending on circumstances at the time, Reisetter said.

“Public health will continue to make the right recommendations at the right time,” Reisetter said.