August 2020

JACQUELYN J. ECKMANN, 61, of Humboldt, died at her home on Thursday morning, Aug. 13, 2020. Those wishing to send online condolences can send them to www.masonlindhart.com and we will see that it gets to the family. Be sure to put the deceased’s name in the subject line.

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) and Humboldt County Public Health (HCPH) have identified two additional positive cases of COVID-19 in the county on Friday, Aug. 14.
That raises the total number of positive cases to 126 since the virus was first identified and Humboldt County reported its first positive case on April 18. Humboldt County reports 95 recovered cases and one death, leaving 30 active cases of people with the virus in the county.
Of the most recent cases, one was in the 0-17 age group and one was in the 61-80-year-old age group.
The breakdown by age group is as follows: (0-17) 14, (18-40) 50, (41-60) 43, (61-80) 18 and (81+) 1.
While the county’s positivity rate in the past two weeks has been 26 percent, the county’s positive case counts represents a rate of 8.6 percent for the 1,311 individuals listing Humboldt as the county of residence that have been tested since the pandemic began.

Humboldt High School will have student orientation days on Monday, August 24, and Tuesday, August 25. During this orientation, students will receive course schedules, syllabi, laptops, and become familiar with processes and procedures to mitigate the spread of COVID within the building. Both days will run a two-hour early out bell schedule with school starting at 8:15 a.m. and ending at 1:20 p.m.
Approximately one-half of the students will attend the orientation on Monday with the remaining students attending the orientation on Tuesday.
Monday, August 24 -- Students with last names beginning with A-L.
Tuesday, August 25 -- Students with last names beginning with M-Z.
All students report on Wednesday, August 26. This will be a regular one-hour early dismissal schedule.
“We are looking forward to working with your student and having a productive and meaningful '20-21 school year,” HHS Principal Paul Numedahl said.

A “Red Shirt drill” was held at the Humboldt Family Aquatic Center on Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 4.
The unannounced drill happened about 3:30 p.m. and the “victim” Morgan Mann suffered a neck injury.
In addition to lifeguards and staff at the aquatic center, the Humboldt Police Department, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department and Humboldt County Memorial Hospital Ambulance Service responded to the scene.
Lifeguards assisted the victim, escorted pool patrons outside the fence area and opened gates to allow emergency personnel access. An announcement was made over the loudspeaker to let patrons know it was a drill.
During the drill, ambulance personnel and officers spoke with the lifeguards and gave tips on assisting the victim.
According to Humboldt Recreation Director Paxton Petersen, the purpose of the Red Shirt drill is to force the lifeguards to practice skills they work on all year in a real life situation.