Gov. Kim Reynolds to let Iowa's COVID-19 emergency declaration expire this month

Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has announced that she will not renew the public health disaster emergency proclamation she put in place at the start of the pandemic when it expires in less than two weeks.

In a statement on Thursday, the Republican governor said she had signed an extension to the health disaster emergency for the last time and once it expires on Feb. 16, how the state responses to the pandemic will change.

"We cannot continue to suspend duly enacted laws and treat COVID-19 as a public health emergency indefinitely. After two years, it's no longer feasible or necessary," she said. "State agencies will now manage COVID-19 as part of normal daily business, and reallocate resources that have been solely dedicated to the response effort to serve other important needs for Iowans."

The proclamation was first announced on March 17, 2020, to aid the state's efforts in fighting the pandemic, and has come to include hundreds of provisions.

When it expires later this month, government websites reporting data on COVID-19 infections, deaths, vaccinations and hospitalizations will be shut down, but Reynolds reassured the public that the information will still be accessible through other federal and state resources.

According to Reynolds's office, COVID-19 data will be reported weekly on the Iowa Department of Public Health website, similar to its treatment of flu cases.

The announcement was made as cases in the state have begun to fall following record spikes last month.

According Iowa government data, nearly 800,000 infections have been recorded in the state, including 8,657 deaths with nearly 800 people currently hospitalized with the disease, which represents more than 54% of the state's hospitalized patients.

The state has fully vaccinated 71.3% of the population above the age of 18 with 76% of people aged 12 and up having received at least one dose.

The Iowa Democrat Party chastised the move to let the proclamation expire on social media.

"Just because [Reynolds] wants the pandemic to be over -- so her corporate donors can rake in more cash -- doesn't mean it's over for the rest of us," it tweeted. "Our doctors, nurses and caregivers are already stretched thin and this irresponsible decision will make a bad situation much worse."

All 50 states issued emergency proclamations related to COVID-19 near the start of the pandemic in 2020. When Iowa's ends later this month, exactly half of all states would have let them expire.