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A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 30 december 2020
Winter storm could bring several inches of snow

By The Associated Press to 24-hour operation until
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A the snow stops.
strong winter storm began “We’re looking at 8 inches
making its way across the followed by some ice so
Upper Midwest Tuesday, that’s going to be a won-
creating treacherous trav- derful complication and I
el conditions and spurring think I’ve seen the forecast
warnings urging people to for Jan. 1 which has anoth-
stay off the roads. er 4 to 5 inches,” he said.
The National Weather Ser- Wisconsin was also bracing
vice issued winter storm for up to 10 inches (25 cen-
warnings for parts of Ne- timeters) of snow in some
braska, Iowa, Kansas, Mis- areas. The forecast called
souri, South Dakota, Wis- for 3 to 6 inches of snow in
consin and Illinois. the Milwaukee area.
By Tuesday morning, snow AccuWeather said parts
was so heavy in western of southeast Nebraska,
Nebraska that Interstates northeast Kansas, north-
80 and 76 were closed for ern Missouri and southern
several hours in both direc- Iowa could see ice accu-
tions after numerous ac- mulations of up to a quar-
cidents, and the Nebraska ter of an inch, which could
Department of Transpor- Cars head west along West Center Road towards 139th Street as blowing snow limits visibility, weigh down power lines
Tuesday morning, Dec. 29, 2020, in Omaha, Neb.
tation warned people to Associated Press and branches and cause
avoid unnecessary travel. power outages.
“Conditions remain hazard- Heavy snowfall of up to a night, the Iowa department “All our troopers are very In Topeka, morning snow
ous & we anticipate they foot (30 centimeters), and said on Twitter. “If you must busy right now covering was expected to give way
will remain so all day Tues- perhaps more in some travel in the impacted ar- crashes all over Iowa. Road to freezing rain before
day. Please avoid travel,” spots, was forecast in parts eas, buckle up, slow down conditions are very dan- eventually becoming rain.
the department said on of Iowa, where the state and allow plenty of space gerous,” he said. In the Kansas City area, light
Twitter. Department of Transporta- between vehicles.” The city of Des Moines had snow on Tuesday morning
Police in Omaha reported tion urged people to delay By 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, snow- more than 200 employees resulted in several acci-
several accidents blamed travel plans. fall was heavy, causing vis- from public works, parks dents. Among them were
on slick roads. Some parts The department’s road ibility problems for motorists and recreation, and waste- several rollover wrecks on
of Nebraska had already conditions map showed and rapidly deteriorating water reclamation depart- the Kansas side of the met-
seen 3 inches (8 centime- most highways in the west- road conditions, Iowa State ments on snow removal ropolitan area.
ters) of snow by mid-morn- ern part of the state cov- Patrol spokesman Sgt. Alex duty. The Missouri Department of
ing, and the area near ered or partly covered with Dinkla said. He added that Public Works Director Jon- Transportation said roads
Creston, Iowa, already had snow by midday Tuesday. crashes were happening athan Gano said 100 snow were mostly or partly cov-
5 inches (13 centimeters) of “Travel conditions are like- across the state with heavy plows, trucks and other ered with snow in the north-
snow. ly to go downhill all day/ post-Christmas travel. equipment were activated ern third of the state.q

First reported U.S. case of COVID-19 variant found in Colorado

Disease Control and Pre- as all COVID-19 indicators, placed under strict lock-
vention was notified. very closely,” Polis said. down measures. Scientists
Scientists in the U.K. be- Polis and state health offi- say there is reason for con-
lieve the variant is more cials are expected hold a cern but the new strains
contagious than previously news conference Wednes- should not cause alarm.
identified strains. The vac- day. Japan announced Mon-
cines being given now are The discovery of the new day it would bar entry of all
thought to be effective variant led the CDC to issue nonresident foreign nation-
against the variant, Colo- new rules on Christmas Day als as a precaution against
rado health officials said in for travelers arriving to the the new strain.
a news release. U.S. from the U.K., requiring New variants of the coro-
Public health officials are they show proof of a nega- navirus have been seen al-
investigating other poten- tive COVID-19 test. most since the virus was first
tial cases and performing Worry has been growing detected in China nearly
A waitperson wears a face mask while tending to a patron sitting contact tracing to deter- about the variant since Sat- a year ago. It is common
in the outdoor patio of a sushi restaurant, late Monday, Dec. 28, mine the spread of the vari- urday, when Britain’s prime for viruses to undergo mi-
2020, in downtown Denver.
Associated Press ant throughout the state. minister said a new strain nor changes as they repro-
“There is a lot we don’t of the coronavirus seemed duce and move through a
By PATTY NIEBERG announced Tuesday. know about this new CO- to spread more easily than population. The slight modi-
Associated Press/Report for The variant was found in a VID-19 variant, but scientists earlier ones and was mov- fications are how scientists
America man in his 20s who is in iso- in the United Kingdom are ing rapidly through Eng- track the spread of a virus
DENVER (AP) — The first re- lation southeast of Denver warning the world that it is land. The nation’s first vari- from one place to another.
ported U.S. case of the CO- and has no travel history, significantly more conta- ant case was identified in But if the virus has signifi-
VID-19 variant that’s been state health officials said. gious. The health and safe- southeast England. cant mutations, one con-
seen in the United Kingdom The Colorado State Labo- ty of Coloradans is our top Dozens of countries barred cern is that current vac-
has been discovered in ratory confirmed the virus priority, and we will closely flights from the U.K., and cines might no longer offer
Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis variant, and the Centers for monitor this case, as well southern England was the same protections.q