For 3rd time, Idaho adds 600-plus coronavirus cases in one day. Positive test rate dips
Idaho saw a drop in the rate of positive tests for the coronavirus, but the percentage remains more than double the 5% standard recommended in Gov. Brad Little’s Idaho Rebounds plan.
For the week of July 26-Aug. 1, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reported that 11.7% of the 17,446 COVID-19 tests conducted statewide came back positive. That’s down from a positive rate of 13.8% for July 19-25 and a high of 14.9% for July 5-11.
But don’t be surprised if that data change some over the next week. Health and Welfare originally reported a positive rate of 13.2% on 17,746 tests for July 19-25. Those figures were updated Thursday, with a slightly higher rate on 20,951 tests.
Idaho has the sixth-highest positivity rate in the country, according to Johns Hopkins, down one spot from No. 5 last week. Little announced Thursday that Idaho would stay in Stage 4 of reopening after failing its fourth attempt at exiting the plan — and the day’s numbers painted a picture of what Idaho is up against.
The state’s seven health districts reported a combined 604 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nine new deaths on Thursday. It marked just the third time that Idaho has added more than 600 cases in a single day.
The new deaths were in Ada (4 new, 76 total), Canyon (3 new, 46 total), Bonneville (1 new, 3 total) and Kootenai (1 new, 15 total) counties. There have been 34 coronavirus-related deaths announced in August and 227 since the start of the pandemic. The case fatality rate is about 0.97%.
Eastern Idaho Public Health provided demographic information on the third fatality in Bonneville County. The individual was a male in his 80s. Data from Health and Welfare on six of the latest deaths shows that one was in their 50s, one was in their 60s, two were in their 70s and two were 80 or older.
Canyon County saw its second-largest single-day increase in new confirmed cases Thursday, with Southwest District Health adding 242 cases. The single-day high for the county was 269 cases on July 15. Canyon’s caseload total is 5,214 cases.
Ada County also experienced a triple-digit case increase, with 144 new cases for a state-leading total of 8,040.
The other counties adding cases Thursday were Adams (2 new, 19 total), Bannock (15 new, 377 total), Bear Lake (3 new, 22 total), Benewah (3 new, 52 total), Bingham (10 new, 259 total), Boise (4 new, 36 total), Bonner (4 new, 169 total), Bonneville (51 new, 749 total), Caribou (1 new, 29 total), Clark (4 new, 9 total), Elmore (1 new, 195 total), Fremont (3 new, 64 total), Gem (5 new, 153 total), Gooding (1 new, 137 total), Jefferson (9 new, 146 total), Jerome (6 new, 408 total), Kootenai (31 new, 1,705 total), Latah (4 new, 92 total), Lemhi (1 new, 13 total), Madison (4 new, 119 total), Minidoka (1 new, 432 total), Nez Perce (2 new, 123 total), Owyhee (11 new, 234 total), Payette (12 new, 334 total), Power (2 new, 55 total), Shoshone (3 new, 79 total), Teton (3 new, 64 total), Twin Falls (17 new, 1,181 total), Valley (1 new, 51 total) and Washington (4 new, 187 total).
Health and Welfare also reported 44 new “probable cases,” bringing that total to 1,483. Additionally, 8,486 people are now considered to be “recovered” from the virus.
Daily Details
Hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 954 hospitalizations because of the coronavirus, 269 admissions to the ICU and 1,391 health care workers who have been infected. The hospital and health care numbers are based on cases with completed investigations into contacts, not the full number of positives.
Testing totals: At the end of the day Thursday, Health and Welfare reported that 197,217 tests had been completed statewide. About 11.1% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 8,040, Adams 19, Bannock 377, Bear Lake 22, Benewah 52, Bingham 259, Blaine 560, Boise 36, Bonner 169, Bonneville 749, Boundary 37, Camas 1, Canyon 5,214, Caribou 29, Cassia 458, Clark 9, Clearwater 15, Custer 9, Elmore 195, Franklin 42, Fremont 64, Gem 153, Gooding 137, Idaho 29, Jefferson 146, Jerome 408, Kootenai 1,705, Latah 92, Lemhi 13, Lincoln 50, Madison 119, Minidoka 432, Nez Perce 123, Oneida 10, Owyhee 234, Payette 334, Power 55, Shoshone 79, Teton 64, Twin Falls 1,181, Valley 51 and Washington 187.
Counties with community spread: Ada, Bannock, Bear Lake, Benewah, Bingham, Blaine, Boise, Bonner, Bonneville, Boundary, Canyon, Caribou, Cassia, Clark, Clearwater, Custer, Elmore, Fremont, Gem, Gooding, Idaho, Jefferson, Jerome, Kootenai, Latah, Lemhi, Lewis, Lincoln, Madison, Minidoka, Nez Perce, Oneida, Owyhee, Payette, Power, Shoshone, Teton, Twin Falls, Valley and Washington.
