Health districts add 4 new coronavirus cases. But 16 were removed from Twin Falls area.
A Saturday full of technical difficulties and conflicting reports left Idahoans with an array of confusing information about the latest spread of the coronavirus.
After a three-hour delay where it published no new information, the state health department reported 31 new confirmed or probable cases of the coronavirus Saturday night. But that number conflicts with what local health districts published earlier in the day and Friday evening.
The state did not account for the two new confirmed cases in Bannock County, nor single new cases in Bonneville and Benewah counties.
The local health districts in those regions published those four new cases Saturday afternoon. They were not included in the state’s updated tally Saturday evening.
The state health department also either subtracted or declined to add 16 confirmed cases from county-level data, based on what local health districts reported Friday night.
The Twin Falls-based South Central Public Health District reported 91 new confirmed cases Friday as part of a spike of 98 new confirmed cases statewide, the most in seven weeks.
The district often publishes after 5 p.m. The state updates daily at 5 p.m., opting not to wait for all seven local health districts. That creates a lag.
But instead of catching up to that lag, the state’s county-level data subtracted 11 cases from Cassia County, seven from Minidoka and three from Twin Falls.
It also added five to Jerome.
Those numbers all differ from what South Central reported Friday night.
South Central did not report new cases Saturday, and spokespersons from South Central and the state health department did not return multiple messages Saturday asking to explain the discrepancy.
When the Idaho Statesman has previously found conflicting results, it has relied on data from local health districts. It also has not relied on probable cases because not all local health districts publish that information.
The state reported no new deaths Saturday.
The state will next report new information on case totals on Tuesday.
FIRST CASE IN BENEWAH COUNTY
Benewah County reported its first confirmed case of the coronavirus Saturday, finding the virus in a girl under the age of 18.
The Coeur d’Alene Tribe confirmed the girl has mild symptoms and is isolating at home with family on the reservation.
Idaho now has at least one confirmed case in 34 of its 44 counties.
This story was originally published May 23, 2020 at 7:45 PM.
