Name: Gov. Kim Reynolds, who hasn't held a formal news conference for weeks, says she has been 'very accessible'
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Gov. Kim Reynolds, who hasn't held a formal news conference for weeks, says she has been 'very accessible'

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Des Moines Register Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday evening that she remains "very accessible,"&nbsp;even though she has not held a formal news conference for weeks as coronavirus-related hospitalizations .&nbsp;Reynolds said she has been continuing to update Iowans on the pandemic by taking questions from reporters at nearly every event she appears at, as well as calling in to local radio stations&nbsp;as&nbsp;she has traveled the state the past two weeks&nbsp;— a schedule that has included&nbsp;numerous&nbsp;campaign stops for fellow Republicans."I'm very accessible," Reynolds told the Des Moines Register on Wednesday. "I'm actually calling in and talking to Iowans in areas where we see ... the community spread a little bit higher than it should be. That's who I need to reach out to, and that's what I'm doing, and I've done it for the last two weeks."&nbsp;As coronavirus cases have surged in&nbsp;the Midwest, Iowa has been mired in its worst stretch of new cases and coronavirus-related hospitalizations. The average number of daily deaths has also been climbing, although it remained&nbsp;below its May peak as of Wednesday evening.&nbsp;More:At the beginning of the pandemic,&nbsp;Reynolds held daily weekday news conferences to update the public on the state's response to the virus for about two months. She then scaled&nbsp;them back&nbsp;to twice a week in June, and then to one per week later in the month. In late July, she at Iowa PBS. Those news conferences have become less frequent in recent weeks.Reynolds' last televised news conference was three weeks ago, on Oct. 7, .&nbsp;Her last formal, non-televised news conference came Oct. 15, when with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar. At the time, the number of hospitalizations hit a new daily record of 482.&nbsp;Iowa has continued to break hospitalization records this week. As of Wednesday evening, Iowa hospitals had passed 600 COVID-19 patients for the first time in the pandemic. &nbsp;and .&nbsp;Reynolds does not have a news conference on her public schedule this week. Her&nbsp;comments to the Register followed an evening campaign event in Bondurant where Reynolds appeared with 3rd Congressional District candidate David Young, Iowa Rep. Brian Lohse and U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst and&nbsp;Chuck Grassley.&nbsp;"There's a lot going on," she said. "There's a lot of chaos with the election, and so you know we're out trying to get the message to where we need to, and we're going to continue to do it. And we'll get back to a routine sooner rather than later."&nbsp;Reynolds' public schedule released for this week, which stretched&nbsp;through Thursday, does include a few&nbsp;events on official public government business. One of the visits came before Reynolds hit the road for several campaign events with Ernst, who is locked in a tight race for reelection with Democrat Theresa Greenfield. Another will be Thursday afternoon in Stuart.&nbsp;Between Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning, the state reported&nbsp;an additional 1,814 confirmed cases and 22 COVID-19 deaths. In total, nearly 1,700 Iowans have died from the virus and almost&nbsp;120,000 Iowans have tested positive for the disease.&nbsp;An warned Iowans to take caution when gathering indoors, even in small groups. The report continues to classify Iowa as being in the "red zone" for new cases of coronavirus, with the 10th highest per-capita rate in the country.&nbsp;Reynolds has so far rebuffed calls from medical professionals, including the White House Coronavirus Task Force, for&nbsp;stronger mitigation measures&nbsp;such as a requirement that people wear facial coverings in public or more closures and precautions at bars. She has encouraged public precautions, such as mask-wearing, but said a requirement would be unenforceable.Asked Wednesday about what point cases and hospitalizations would need to reach for her to determine&nbsp;Iowa's measures aren't doing enough, Reynolds said cases are going up around the Midwest, pointing&nbsp;to rising cases in Wisconsin, which currently has a mask mandate.&nbsp;"If you look at the region and the hospitalizations, it varies," she said. "There are people that have sheltered in place, there are people that have mandated masks, and their numbers a lot of times aren't any better than some of the other states."She said COVID-19 accounts for about 11% of the state's hospitalizations right now. Reynolds said she is monitoring the state's hospital system&nbsp;and bed&nbsp;availability. She said her office is also monitoring staffing availability and planned to work on plans to address that this week.&nbsp;Reynolds said she continues to focus resources on the most vulnerable Iowans and remind people "what they can do to be part of the solution," including wearing masks, practicing physical distancing, washing hands, avoiding large gatherings&nbsp;and taking other precautions.&nbsp;"You can't stay shut down," she said. "We have to figure out how to manage and mitigate and live with the virus until a vaccine is ready to go."&nbsp;Ian Richardson covers the Iowa Statehouse for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at , at 515-284-8254, or on Twitter at .

Des Moines Register Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday evening that she remains "very accessible,"&nbsp;even though she has not held a formal news conference for weeks as coronavirus-related hospitalizations .&nbsp;Reynolds said she has been continuing to update Iowans on the pandemic by taking questions from reporters at nearly every event she appears at, as well as calling in to local radio stations&nbsp;as&nbsp;she has traveled the state the past two weeks&nbsp;— a schedule that has included&nbsp;numerous&nbsp;campaign stops for fellow Republicans."I'm very accessible," Reynolds told...

Gov. Kim Reynolds, who hasn't held a formal news conference for weeks, says she has been 'very accessible'

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