Boise State’s coronavirus cases tripled this week; 11 new deaths reported statewide
Boise State University on Friday announced 32 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 among staff, residential students and off-campus students for the week ending Sept. 3.
The university’s COVID-19 tracking dashboard shows 48 confirmed cases on campus since Aug. 15 out of a population of 14,696. There were 16 known cases at the university when the dashboard first launched Tuesday.
Students began moving into the dorms on Aug. 19, and classes began Aug. 24.
The newest cases include three staff members, two residential students and 27 off-campus students. Overall, five staff members, three resident students and 40 off-campus students have been infected with the virus.
Boise State has 115 beds designated for isolation, of which two are currently in use.
11 new COVID deaths reported
The state’s seven public health districts announced a combined 242 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 11 new deaths on Friday.
Canyon County added four new deaths for a total of 85, while Ada, Adams, Bannock, Bingham, Minidoka, Shoshone and Twin Falls reported one new death each. Idaho has lost 386 residents to the virus with a case fatality rate of about 1.15%.
The deaths that occurred in Southeastern Idaho Public Health’s district were a male in his 70s from Bannock County and a male in his 80s from Bingham County. Information on the other deaths was not provided.
Ada and Canyon counties reported the most new cases Friday with 71 and 56, respectively. Bonneville (14 new, 1,577 total), Twin Falls (11 new, 1,575 total), Bingham (11 new, 600 total) and Bannock (10 new, 750 total) counties also saw double-digit increases.
The other counties with new cases were Benewah (2 new, 121 total), Bonner (4 new, 218 total), Boundary (1 new, 45 total), Cassia (2 new, 535 total), Custer (1 new, 35 total), Franklin (2 new, 58 total), Fremont (1 new, 106 total), Gem (2 new, 209 total), Gooding (1 new, 207 total), Jefferson (2 new, 319 total), Jerome (1 new, 555 total), Kootenai (6 new, 2,223 total), Latah (7 new, 247 total), Madison (6 new, 219 total), Minidoka (3 new, 532 total), Nez Perce (7 new, 298 total), Owyhee (5 new, 282 total), Payette (6 new, 635 total), Power (5 new, 155 total), Shoshone (2 new, 198 total), Teton (2 new, 112 total) and Washington (7 new, 281 total).
Central District Health removed two cases from Boise County (49 total), and South Central Public Health District removed four cases between Blaine (588 total) and Lincoln (60 total) counties.
Since the start of the pandemic, 31,080 Idaho residents have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Officials report that 16,071 people have recovered from the disease. Health and Welfare also reported 24 new “probable” cases, bringing the state total to 2,462.
CDH simplifies school categories
Central District Health announced a change to its metrics for determining weekly school operation categories in Ada, Boise, Elmore and Valley counties.
The health district said it will use a two-week average of daily COVID-19 cases calculated per 100,000 people in a given county. The system will keep the color categories of red, yellow and green.
“We recognize that the weekly category determinations we make are weighed heavily by the schools in our communities when making their decisions, and we take that responsibility very seriously,” CDH District Director Russ Duke said in a press release.
“We want the public to have a good grasp on why and how these decisions are being made within CDH and to be able to look at the data and understand what it takes to move between the three categories.”
CDH said geographic distance in rural counties like Boise, Elmore and Valley may create community spread risk differences. The Basin and Horseshoe Bend school districts are both located in Boise County but are about 30 miles and an hour’s drive apart. CDH says that can create the possibility of different risk categories for school districts within the same county and said it plans to work directly with the school districts and independent schools if this situation arises.
For Ada and Elmore counties, the red category will have a case rate of 20 or greater; yellow will be a case rate of greater than 3 but less than 20; and green is a case rate of 3 or less.
For Boise and Valley counties, the red category will have a case rate of 30 or greater; yellow will be a case rate of greater than 5 but less than 30; and green is a case rate of 5.0 or less.
Duke said Thursday he expects Ada County’s school districts to drop from red to yellow next week.
Long-term care update
Health and Welfare released its weekly update on COVID-19 in long-term care facilities Friday.
Outbreaks at Idaho facilities increased by four to 158 overall, total individual cases jumped by 102 to 2,192 cases, and deaths rose by 16 to 212, with three new facilities recording a death.
Active cases increased to 1,711 at 94 facilities — up from 1,683 at 100 facilities last week. There are 64 facilities with resolved outbreaks.
Below is a list of long-term care facilities by city that have active cases of the coronavirus:
Ammon: Gables Assisted Living of Ammon; Ashton: Ashton Memorial Living Center; Bellevue: Cove of Cascadia; Blackfoot: Willows Retirement & Assisted Living; Boise: Shaw Mountain of Cascadia, Terraces of Boise, Life Care of Boise, Edgewood Spring Creek-Overland, Cascadia of Boise, Garden Plaza of Valley View-Valley View Nursing & Rehab, Garden Plaza of Valley View-The Bridge at Valley View, State Veterans Home-Boise, Overland Court, Willow Park Senior Living, Arbor Village at Hillcrest, Arbor Valley of Cascadia, Life Care of Treasure Valley, Ashley Manor-Hyde Park, Trinity Assisted Living, Grace Memory Care, Veranda Senior Living-Barber Station, Ivy Place & Amber Lane, MorningStar Memory Care at Englefield Green, Good Samaritan Society-Boise Village, Brookdale Boise Parkcenter, Grace Assisted Living at State St., Avamere Transitional Care;
Burley: Parke View Rehab, Mini Cassia Care Center; Caldwell: Caldwell Care of Cascadia, Canyon West of Cascadia, Grace Assisted Living, Lenity Senior Living; Challis: Diamond Peak Health Care of Challis; Coeur d’Alene: Ivy Court, Garden at Orchard Ridge; Eagle: Paramount Parks, Ashley Manor-Eagle House No. 2; Emmett: River’s Edge Rehab, Apple Valley Residence; Fruitland: Edgewood Spring Creek Fruitland; Garden City: Emerson House at Riverpointe; Idaho Falls: Gables Assisted Living of Idaho Falls, MorningStar of Idaho Falls, Good Samaritan-Idaho Falls Village, Teton Post-Acute Care and Rehab, Parkwood Meadows, Fairwinds-Sand Creek, Tambree Meadows Assisted Living; Jerome: Creekside Care Center, Desano Place; Kellogg: Mountain Valley of Cascadia;
Lewiston: The Orchards, State Veterans Home-Lewiston; Meridian: Creekside Transitional Care, Touchmark at Meadow Lake Village, Copper Springs, Aspen Transitional Rehab, Tomorrow’s Hope-Sapphire, Edgewood Spring Creek Meridian, Golden Years Oak Crest, Cottages at Lochsa Falls, The Cottages-Meridian, Veranda Senior Living-Paramount; Moscow: Good Samaritan Society-Moscow Village; Nampa: Orchards of Cascadia, Meadow View Nursing & Rehab, Aging Gracefully, Sunny Ridge, Wellspring of Cascadia, Heron Place, Streamside Assisted Living, Cascadia of Nampa, CommuniCare No. 7, Communicare No. 1 Gem; Payette: The Cottages-Payette, Royal Villa Care Center; Pinehurst: Pacifica Senior Living; Pocatello: McCoy House Group Home, Brookdale Pocatello, Quail Ridge;
Post Falls: Guardian Angel Homes, Life Care of Post Falls, The Bridge at Post Falls; Rexburg: Madison Carriage Cove, Homestead Assisted Living Rexburg; Rupert: Countryside Care and Rehab; Salmon: Meadows Assisted Living Center; Shoshone: Lincoln County Care Center; Silverton: Good Samaritan Society-Silver Wood Village; St. Maries: Valley Vista Care-St. Maries; Twin Falls: Twin Falls Care; Weiser: Cottages of Weiser, Weiser Care of Cascadia, Communicare No. 6 Weiser.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 1,461 hospitalizations because of the coronavirus, 394 admissions to the ICU and 2,183 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 Sept. 3, the hospital was reporting a 14-day coronavirus testing positivity rate of 7%, with 29 patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 out of 440 patients overall.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Sept. 3, the hospital was reporting a 14-day coronavirus positivity testing rate of 15.6%, with 44 patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 out of 358 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), Maple Grove Elementary (1), Roosevelt Elementary (1) and West Junior High (1).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Friday, Health and Welfare reported that 263,183 tests had been completed statewide. About 11.8% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 10,691, Adams 24, Bannock 750, Bear Lake 40, Benewah 121, Bingham 600, Blaine 588, Boise 49, Bonner 218, Bonneville 1,577, Boundary 45, Butte 27, Camas 3, Canyon 6,983, Caribou 43, Cassia 535, Clark 17, Clearwater 21, Custer 35, Elmore 241, Franklin 58, Fremont 106, Gem 209, Gooding 207, Idaho 43, Jefferson 319, Jerome 555, Kootenai 2,223, Latah 247, Lemhi 52, Lewis 8, Lincoln 60, Madison 219, Minidoka 532, Nez Perce 298, Oneida 19, Owyhee 282, Payette 635, Power 155, Shoshone 198, Teton 112, Twin Falls 1,575, Valley 79 and Washington 281.
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 4, 2020 at 4:15 PM.
