Child under 5 dies of COVID-19

Iowa makes belated announcement of fatality from June case

IOWA CITY, Iowa — A young child died of complications from the novel coronavirus in June, the first confirmed death of a minor in Iowa during the pandemic, the state health department belatedly announced Sunday.

The Iowa Department of Public Health said the state medical examiner’s office concluded its case investigation Aug. 6 into the death of the child, who was under the age of 5. But the death wasn’t reported in the state’s statistics until Saturday, more than two weeks later.

“The child’s death was publicly reported this weekend after ensuring the individual’s identity would remain protected and notifying the family,” the department said in a statement. “We have made every effort to protect the identity of this child, while the family grieves this devastating loss. Again, we send our sincerest condolences.”

The confirmation of the state’s first child death comes one day before dozens of school districts are prepared to begin the school year on Monday, a development that has many educators and parents already on edge.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has ordered schools to reopen for at least 50 percent in-person instruction. In other developments:

■ Florida broke the 600,000 mark for confirmed COVID-19 cases Sunday but reported one of its lowest daily totals in two months, continuing a downward trend that began five weeks ago.

Florida reported 2,974 new cases Sunday, only the second time since June 22 that fewer than 3,000 new cases have been tallied in a day. The other time was Monday, when 2,678 cases were reported.

The daily total peaked July 15, when more than 15,000 cases were reported, but it has been declining since.

Hospitalizations from COVID-19 have also been declining. Late Sunday morning, 4,578 patients were being treated for the disease in Florida hospitals, compared with Saturday’s 4,773. It is a drop of almost 800 since Thursday. Hospitalizations peaked at above 9,500 on July 23.

Overall, the state has now reported 600,571 confirmed cases.

In Wisconsin, a deputy for the Dane County Sheriff’s Office who is believed to have contracted the novel coronavirus while on duty died.

Sheriff David Mahoney said in a statement that Richard “Rick” Treadwell is believed to be Wisconsin’s first law enforcement officer to die from the virus after contracting it while on duty.

The Journal Sentinel reported that Treadwell had been with the department since 1995 and worked as a recruiter and instructor. The statement said “all evidence” indicates that Treadwell contracted the virus while on duty.