Coronavirus: Cases added to Idaho prison totals, Idaho passes 7,000 COVID-19 cases
The number of people with coronavirus in Idaho prisons grew slightly over the weekend.
On Monday morning, the Idaho Department of Corrections updated its website to show that 121 incarcerated people have tested positive for COVID-19.
Of that number, 14 of those who tested positive are showing symptoms of the virus, an increase of two since Friday. It was not immediately known which facility is housing those who have recently tested positive. The number of inmates who tested positive but are asymptomatic remained at 107 as of Monday morning.
The large number of positives stems from mass testing conducted by IDOC last week. Hundreds were tested at the Idaho State Correctional Center — a Kuna prison that houses over 2,100 men. The prison is the first in Idaho where positive cases were found among the incarcerated population. As of Monday morning, 243 tests are still pending in Idaho prisons, according to IDOC’s website. The pending tests were taken from three prisons — ISCC; the South Boise Women’s Correctional Center in Kuna; and the Pocatello Women’s Correctional Center in eastern Idaho.
In an update posted Friday, IDOC director Josh Tewalt wrote that four more staffers had tested positive for the virus, bringing the total number of infected staff to 40. Thankfully, the four were already self-quarantining, and the positive results have not resulted in additional staff being ordered to quarantine.
Idaho tops 7,000 cases on Sunday
On Sunday, Idaho surpassed 7,000 positive cases of the coronavirus, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Officials reported 370 new cases on Sunday, which is the first time since April the state agency has reported numbers on a Sunday.
Of the new cases, 207 were reported in Ada County, bringing the county’s total cases to 2,696 as of Sunday. The second most cases reported Sunday were found in Canyon County, which reported 91. The county, which has the second-highest number of cases in Idaho, now has 1,265 confirmed cases.
New cases were reported in counties across Idaho, including Bonneville, Cassia, Elmore, Payette, Valley and Washington, among others. Most notably, 23 new cases were reported in Kootenai County, an area with increasing coronavirus numbers in recent days.
As of Sunday, there are 7,175 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Idaho. No deaths were reported Sunday, leaving the state’s total at 94. State health officials removed two “probable cases” from its list, leaving the total at 589.
Coronavirus cases have been reported in the majority of Idaho’s 44 counties: Ada 2,696, Adams 10, Bannock 103, Bear Lake 2, Benewah 13, Bingham 57, Blaine 527, Boise 5, Bonner 39, Bonneville 110, Boundary 1, Camas 1, Canyon 1,265, Caribou 15, Cassia 228, Clearwater 2, Custer 5, Elmore 68, Franklin 25, Fremont 7, Gem 34, Gooding 56, Idaho 5, Jefferson 15, Jerome 212, Kootenai 421, Latah 21, Lemhi 2, Lincoln 32, Madison 30, Minidoka 183, Nez Perce 86, Oneida 5, Owyhee 40, Payette 115, Power 16, Shoshone 3, Teton 20, Twin Falls 572, Valley 20 and Washington 109.
Community spread has been reported in 33 Idaho counties: Ada, Bannock, Benewah, Bingham, Blaine, Bonner, Bonneville, Canyon, Caribou, Cassia, Clearwater, Custer, Elmore, Gem, Gooding, Idaho, Jefferson, Jerome, Kootenai, Lemhi, Lewis, Lincoln, Madison, Minidoka, Nez Perce, Owyhee, Oneida, Payette, Power, Teton, Twin Falls, Valley and Washington.
This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 10:48 AM.
