By RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The death toll tied to the coronavirus outbreak at a Cedar Rapids nursing home has risen to 14, an investigator told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Those who have died after contracting COVID-19 at Heritage Specialty Care “were all residents, as far as I know,” said Alisha Weber, lead investigator for the Linn County Medical Examiner's office.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has said at least 76 residents and employees at the facility have become infected — about one-third of those who live and work there. But until now, public health officials and the company that manages the facility had refused to say how many have died.

The home's outbreak has been the worst in Iowa and helped give Linn County the highest number of known infections and deaths out of Iowa's 99 counties.

Weber said her office has handled 16 deaths in which the individual tested positive for COVID-19. All but two have come from the facility.

Friday's statistics from the Iowa Department of Public Health put Linn County's COVID-19 death toll at 12. Weber said one death handled by her office was a resident of another county. Others, including one Saturday, were too new to show up in the state count, she said.