Government : Benton County Supervisors Extend closure of Benton County Facilities

The Benton County Board of Supervisors voted to extend the following decision to close Benton County facilities through the April 30th date set by Iowa Governor, Kim Reynolds.

The following information will apply through that date.

Today, the Benton County Board of Supervisors met to discuss the County's response to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Board met with representatives of the Benton County Board of Health, Virginia Gay Hospital, Benton County Emergency Management and County Department Heads to respond to Governor Reynolds' announcement of community spread of the COVID -19 virus. It was the united consensus and recommendation of the Benton County Public Health community that Benton County implement immediate steps to combat the potential for the community spread of the virus. The Board of Supervisors unanimously agrees with the recommendations of the Benton County Board of Health.

ACCORDINGLY, by order of the Benton County Supervisors, the following precautions will take effect at 4:00 p.m. today:

1. All County facilities shall be closed to the general public until April 13, 2020. This includes the Benton County Courthouse, the Benton County Service Center, Benton County Secondary Roads, and Benton County Transportation. The Courthouse will remain open to individuals with scheduled Court Hearings and those in need of accessing emergency Court Services. All individuals with scheduled Court proceedings are asked to contact their respective attorneys to verify that their actual attendance in the Courthouse is required. 2. Individual members of the public who will be allowed access to County facilities will be asked to complete a non-invasive health screening.3. All County Employees will be reporting to work as scheduled.4. Benton County is proud of the services it provides to the public. We appreciate that this may be an inconvenience, but nearly every County service provided can be obtained through telephone, email, and regular mail correspondence.

Benton County will continue to monitor this situation and will continue to update the public with future announcements.