Idaho’s confirmed COVID case total passes 30,000; cases found in three Vallivue schools
It took Idaho about four months to reach 10,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The next 20,000 cases have arrived at a blistering pace this summer.
After reporting the state’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus on March 13, Idaho passed 10,000 cases on July 12. It hit 20,000 cases Aug. 2 and 30,000 confirmed cases on Tuesday.
The state’s seven health districts reported a combined 383 new confirmed cases Tuesday, pushing the statewide total to 30,215. There also were six new coronavirus-related deaths announced for a total of 370 overall and a case fatality rate of about 1.13%.
Southeastern Idaho Public Health accounted for 140 of Tuesday’s new confirmed cases — the most of any district. SIPH attributed the dramatic increase in caseload to testing delays as well as an estimated 50 cases coming from the Bannock County Jail.
“Southeastern Idaho Public Health’s case count is elevated due to delays in the positive lab report system,” the district wrote in a press release. “In addition, SIPH is now counting every case on the day we receive it, rather than waiting until we are able to make contact with each case.”
The latest deaths were in Canyon (2 new, 80 total), Ada (1 new, 127 total), Benewah (1 new, 2 total), Bonneville (1 new, 12 total) and Kootenai (1 new, 30 total) counties. The Bonneville County death was a female in her 70s, according to Eastern Idaho Public Health, but information on the other deaths was not available.
Here is a breakdown of the new confirmed cases reported Tuesday by county: Ada (78 new, 10,511 total), Bannock (81 new, 706 total), Bear Lake (3 new, 40 total), Benewah (5 new, 116 total), Bingham (34 new, 482 total), Boise (1 new, 49 total), Bonner (2 new, 208 total), Bonneville (24 new, 1,500 total), Boundary (1 new, 44 total), Butte (2 new, 22 total), Canyon (35 new, 6,858 total), Caribou (2 new, 42 total), Cassia (2 new, 531 total), Custer (1 new, 29 total), Elmore (6 new, 239 total), Franklin (2 new, 53 total), Fremont (1 new, 102 total), Gem (2 new, 190 total), Gooding (2 new, 201 total), Idaho (1 new, 42 total), Jefferson (9 new, 308 total), Jerome (6 new, 542 total), Kootenai (12 new, 2,180 total), Latah (3 new, 235 total), Madison (10 new, 209 total), Minidoka (11 new, 525 total), Nez Perce (3 new, 277 total), Owyhee (1 new, 277 total), Payette (19 new, 606 total), Power (16 new, 141 total), Twin Falls (4 new, 1,518 total) and Washington (5 new, 264 total).
South Central Public Health District removed one case from Blaine County, lowering its total to 587 cases.
Officials report that 15,212 people have recovered from the disease. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare also reported 58 new “probable” cases, bringing the state total to 2,399.
COVID CASES FOUND IN THREE VALLIVUE SCHOOLS
Vallivue Middle School, Skyway and Lakevue elementary schools, and Vallivue’s district office all have received positive COVID-19 test results, the Idaho Statesman learned through a public records request.
The district office had two positive cases. The schools each had one, leading to five positive cases as of Aug. 18, when the Statesman filed the original records request.
Vallivue students returned for in-person classes Aug. 25 on a limited schedule. Elementary students attend classes four days a week. Middle and high school students attend classes two days a week to create room for social distancing.
The district had two employees in quarantine as of Friday. One was scheduled to exit quarantine Sunday, and the other is scheduled to exit quarantine on Sept. 7.
Canyon County remains in the red category of community spread, the highest in Idaho’s back-to-school guidelines. That comes with a recommendation to move all learning online. But it’s up to local school districts to decide how to apply health district advice.
The Statesman has filed a follow-up public records request for any new cases.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 1,394 hospitalizations because of the coronavirus, 381 admissions to the ICU and 2,094 health care workers who have been infected. Hospital and health care numbers are based on cases with completed investigations into contacts, not the full number of positives.
St. Luke’s Health System: As of Aug. 31, the hospital was reporting a 14-day coronavirus testing positivity rate of 7%, with 31 patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 out of 421 patients overall.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Aug. 31, the hospital was reporting a 14-day coronavirus positivity testing rate of 16.1%, with 50 patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 out of 306 patients overall.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Aug. 17: Adams Elementary (2 cases), Boise Online School (1), Borah High (2), Hillcrest Elementary (1), Roosevelt Elementary (1) and West Junior High (1).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Tuesday, Health and Welfare reported that 256,697 tests had been completed statewide. About 11.8% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 10,511, Adams 24, Bannock 706, Bear Lake 40, Benewah 116, Bingham 482, Blaine 587, Boise 49, Bonner 208, Bonneville 1,500, Boundary 44, Butte 22, Camas 3, Canyon 6,858, Caribou 42, Cassia 531, Clark 17, Clearwater 20, Custer 29, Elmore 239, Franklin 53, Fremont 102, Gem 190, Gooding 201, Idaho 42, Jefferson 308, Jerome 542, Kootenai 2,180, Latah 235, Lemhi 51, Lewis 8, Lincoln 58, Madison 209, Minidoka 525, Nez Perce 277, Oneida 19, Owyhee 277, Payette 606, Power 141, Shoshone 195, Teton 108, Twin Falls 1,518, Valley 78 and Washington 264.
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.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 6:47 PM.
