By JACKIE TAYLOR | March 27, 2020

Following a special meeting with the commissioners and county health officials Wednesday night stating their goal was not to shut the county down, the quickly evolving spread of the virus prompted action from Public Health Officer Dr. Jay Allen, Linn County Health Nurse Tisha Coleman and Emergency Management Coordinator Doug Barlet that the county will actually be shut down Monday at 12:01 a.m., March 30, 2020 until Wednesday, April 29, 2020, unless sooner amended, superseded by Federal, State, or local law or order, or rescinded.

At approximately 7 p.m. Friday night, Allen recorded a video that will be posted on social media, the county website, YouTube and the Linn County News website and Facebook site stating, “I speak to you from my heart; I don’t take this lightly. I’m a resident and son of Linn County. This will cause discomfort to you and some businesses – I know most of you.”

He continued that health officials began preparing for the impending emergency March 2 with seven partners from the Sheriff’s Office, county counselor, commissioners and county clerk accumulating over 1,000 man hours in the process.

Allen said that with an increase in daily testing and an increase in daily penetration in surrounding counties, and six positive tests in Linn County, it resulted in the order to “stay at home – stay safe- and watch out for your neighbors and call for help.”

He ended the video with, “May God be with you.”

The official order of the Linn County Public Health Officer will follow when we receive it.