Idaho owns one of the West’s highest coronavirus infection rates despite meager testing

Idaho has one of the West’s highest coronavirus infection rates per capita despite one of the region’s worst testing rates.

The Idaho Statesman gathered COVID-19 case information for the 11 Western states in the Lower 48, paying particular attention to our neighboring states. You can see how each neighboring state was performing in key metrics through Wednesday morning in the story below and how the Western states rank in the charts.

Most of these numbers are based on the states’ final reports Tuesday night (March 31); Oregon’s is based on its Wednesday morning report because it doesn’t update at night. Also, Washington is having technical difficulties and hasn’t reported results since March 28.

Here’s how we rank:

▪ In confirmed COVID-19 cases per capita, Idaho ranks fourth in the West behind Washington, Colorado and Nevada — three states with large urban centers.

▪ In tests per capita, Idaho is the third-worst state behind Colorado and Oregon. (We couldn’t find current testing numbers for California and Arizona, so this is out of nine states.)

▪ In percentage of tests that are positive, Idaho ranks third behind Colorado and Nevada — an indication that many more cases could be found as the state catches up on testing. (Also, out of nine states.)

▪ In deaths per capita, Idaho has the fourth-most behind Washington, Colorado and Nevada.

▪ In mortality rate (deaths per confirmed case), on the other hand, only three states are faring better than Idaho — Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico.

▪ Of Idaho and its border states, Idaho and Montana were the last to report a coronavirus case within their borders (March 13). Idaho, however, was behind only Washington and Oregon in issuing a stay-home order — and only by two days. Nevada and Wyoming still don’t have such an order.

The states that are testing the most per capita are Washington, which was one of the nation’s first hot spots, and New Mexico, which didn’t have its first confirmed case until March 11 (two days before Idaho’s first case). New Mexico also has the lowest infection rate per capita in the West.

Wyoming, which has zero deaths out of 120 cases, and Utah, which has five out of 887 cases, lead the way in mortality rates.

[Related: Track Idaho’s most recent case and testing numbers here]

Idaho (Population: 1,787,065)

Positive: 524 (.029% per capita)

Tests: 6,601 (.369%)

Percentage of positive tests: 7.9%

Deaths: 9 (.0005%)

Mortality rate: 1.71%

First case: March 13, 2020

First death: March 26, 2020

Stay-at-home order: Issued March 25, 2020. Effective until 11:59 p.m. April 15, 2020, or until it is extended, rescinded, superseded or amended in writing.

Source: Information compiled from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Idaho Statesman research.

Washington (7,614,893)

Positive: 4,896 (.064% per capita)

Tests: 65,462 (.860%)

Percent positive: 7.5%

Deaths: 195 (.00256%)

Mortality rate: 3.98%

First case: Jan. 21, 2020

First death: Feb. 29, 2020

Stay-at-home order: Issued March 23, 2020. The order will last for two weeks and could be extended.

Source: Information compiled from the Washington State Department of Health.

Oregon (4,217,737)

Positive: 690 (.016% per capita)

Tests: 13,826 (.328%)

Percent positive: 5.0%

Deaths: 18 (.00043%)

Mortality rate: 2.61%

First case: Feb. 28, 2020

First death: March 14, 2020

Stay-at-home order: Issued March 23, 2020. Effective until further notice.

Source: Information compiled from the Oregon Health Authority

Nevada (3,080,156)

Positive: 1,113 (.036% per capita)

Tests: 11,794 (.383%)

Percent positive: 9.4%

Deaths: 26 (.00084%)

Mortality rate: 2.33%

First case: March 5, 2020

First death: March 16, 2020

Stay-at-home order: None. Nevada closed non-essential businesses on March 20. The governor then asked Nevadans to “practice aggressive social distancing and avoid congregating in groups larger than 10 in public spaces” on March 24.

Source: Information compiled from Nevada’s Department of Health and Human Services.

Utah (3,205,958)

Positive: 887 (.028% per capita)

Tests: 18,513 (.577%)

Percent positive: 4.8%

Deaths: 5 (.00016%)

Mortality rate: 0.56%

First case: March 6, 2020

First death: March 22, 2020

Stay-at-home order: Issued March 27, 2020. Effective until at least April 13.

Source: Information compiled from the Utah Department of Health.

Wyoming (578,759)

Positive: 120 (.021% per capita)

Tests: 2,198 (.380%)

Percent positive: 5.5%

Deaths: 0 (NA)

Mortality rate: 0%

First case: March 11, 2020

First death: None

Stay-at-home order: None. Gov. Mark Gordon has encouraged residents to stay home when possible and says a stay-home order wouldn’t have “multiple exemptions.”

Source: Information compiled from the Wyoming Department of Health.

Montana (1,068,778)

Positive: 198 (.019% per capita)

Tests: 4,558 (.426%)

Percent positive: 4.3%

Deaths: 5 (.00047%)

Mortality rate: 2.53%

First case: March 13, 2020*

First death: March 26, 2020

Stay-at-home order: Took effect March 28 and lasts through April 10.

*Montana had a previous case involving a resident who had been out of state for months.

Source: Information compiled from the state of Montana

This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 5:55 PM.

Chadd Cripe

Idaho Statesman

208-377-6398

Chadd Cripe has worked at the Idaho Statesman for 25 years and was named editor in March 2021. He oversees the Idaho Statesman newsroom. Support my work with a digital subscription

Rachel Roberts

Idaho Statesman

208-377-6422

Rachel Roberts has been covering sports for the Idaho Statesman since 2005. She attended Northwest Nazarene University and is Boise born and raised. Support my work with a digital subscription