In a study from the University of Iowa comparing Iowa, who has not been placed under a full "stay-at-home order" during the Coronavirus pandemic, with Illinois, who has, it was found that our state could have seen up to 30 percent fewer COVID cases had we followed the lead of our neighboring state. The study compared the real-time date between bordering counties in Iowa and Illinois.

Governor Kim Reynolds' resistance to a full stay-at-home order thus far has caused backlash as the state not only isn't closing everything down, but is now starting to ease restrictions even further.

Illinois went under the full order on March 21. The study found that starting on that day, cases rose more quickly in Iowa and slowed down in Illinois.

Dr. Austin Baeth is a Des Moines physician and among advocates for a full stay-at-home order and says this study proves it could have helped. He told KCCI that, potentially, 217 cases could have been prevented over the month the study was conducted had a stricter lockdown been put in place.

Take it with a grain of salt, as it's a very heated topic of conversation to this day, whether forcing people to stay home would have further slowed the spread of Coronavirus or if leaving them with guidelines to help them make their own responsible choices was the right thing to do.

Baeth says it should at least give us compelling information on how to handle the response to a potential second wave later this year.

For her part, Reynolds gave a response to the findings. "They are models based on assumptions," Reynolds said. "So we are looking at real-time data, and making our decisions based on what we are seeing that's happening in the state of Iowa."

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