Cedar Rapids, Ia (AP) — As Iowa’s coronavirus outbreak worsens, state officials are collecting information on individual hospitals’ capacity, staffing, and resources — but they won’t share it with the public. Cedar Rapids television station KCRG reports that the state gathers and maintains such information on a service called the Iowa Health Alert Network. But the Iowa Department of Public Health won’t allow local health departments to release that information to the public. Only statewide information on hospital capacity and resources is currently shared on the state’s COVID-19 public data portal. The Iowa Department of Public Health did not immediately answer questions Tuesday about why the data on individual hospitals in not publicly shared.
