More Treasure Valley schools confirm COVID-19 cases; Idaho reports 5 new deaths from virus
Five Treasure Valley schools have reported new COVID-19 cases in their buildings.
The Boise School District reported single new cases at Maple Grove Elementary and South Junior High on Wednesday. It’s the second positive test result at Maple Grove since classes started Aug. 17. It’s the first for South Junior High since Aug. 17, but it also had a staff member test positive Aug. 11, one day after teachers returned to work.
All Boise classes remain fully online. The district now has 15 total cases since Aug. 17, which includes two probable cases.
The Emmett School District, which has returned to in-person classes, also reported three new cases this week, boosting its cumulative total to four cases.
One Emmett Middle School staff member tested positive, and two Emmett High School students are considered probable cases, a district spokesperson confirmed in response to a public records request.
Liberty Charter School also confirmed two positive cases among its K-12 students since the start of the school year in response to a public records request. The Nampa charter school teaches all of its students in one building.
The state’s seven public health districts reported a combined 207 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and five new deaths on Wednesday.
The latest deaths were in Canyon (2 new, 96 total), Ada (1 new, 143 total), Jerome (1 new, 7 total) and Nez Perce (1 new, 21 total) counties. According to updated demographics on the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s website, the deaths included one person in their 40s, one in their 60s and one in their 70s. The others were 80 or older.
Idaho has lost 430 residents to the virus since the start of the pandemic with a case fatality rate of about 1.18%.
Ada and Canyon counties, which have the most and second-most cases in the state, each reported 44 new confirmed cases on Wednesday. Four other counties also saw double-digit increases — Kootenai (18 new, 2,376 total), Bonneville (17 new, 1,870 total), Bingham (11 new, 764 total) and Madison (12 new, 322 total).
The other counties reporting new confirmed cases were Bannock (1 new, 849 total), Benewah (3 new, 130 total), Bonner (3 new, 252 total), Boundary (1 new, 47 total), Camas (2 new, 12 total), Caribou (1 new, 73 total), Cassia (6 new, 559 total), Franklin (1 new, 76 total), Fremont (1 new, 128 total), Gem (1 new, 241 total), Gooding (1 new, 216 total), Idaho (2 new, 76 total), Jefferson (5 new, 366 total), Jerome (7 new, 617 total), Latah (2 new, 280 total), Minidoka (9 new, 563 total), Nez Perce (3 new, 358 total), Owyhee (1 new, 293 total), Payette (7 new, 698 total), Power (1 new, 193 total), Twin Falls (7 new, 1,734 total) and Washington (1 new, 301 total).
Central District Health removed one case apiece from Boise (51 total) and Elmore (252 total) counties. Southeastern Idaho Public Health removed three cases from Butte County, dropping its caseload to 26. Cases are sometimes removed when a contact-tracing investigation reveals an individual’s permanent residence is located in another county or state.
Since the start of the pandemic, 33,518 Idahoans have tested positive for the coronavirus. Health and Welfare reported 2,939 “probable” cases (76 new). IDHW estimates that of those infected, 19,405 people are presumed recovered.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 1,658 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 433 admissions to the ICU and 2,475 health care workers 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. 15, the health system was reporting 27 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 441 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 6%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Sept. 15, the health system was reporting 28 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 372 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 10.4%.
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 (4), Hillcrest Elementary (1), Maple Grove Elementary (2), Roosevelt Elementary (1), South Junior High (1), West Junior High (1).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Wednesday, Health and Welfare reported that 280,426 tests had been completed statewide. About 12% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 11,153, Adams 25, Bannock 849, Bear Lake 41, Benewah 130, Bingham 764, Blaine 596, Boise 51, Bonner 252, Bonneville 1,870, Boundary 47, Butte 26, Camas 12, Canyon 7,326, Caribou 73, Cassia 559, Clark 22, Clearwater 25, Custer 44, Elmore 252, Franklin 76, Fremont 128, Gem 241, Gooding 216, Idaho 76, Jefferson 366, Jerome 617, Kootenai 2,376, Latah 280, Lemhi 54, Lewis 11, Lincoln 67, Madison 322, Minidoka 563, Nez Perce 358, Oneida 19, Owyhee 293, Payette 698, Power 193, Shoshone 209, Teton 123, Twin Falls 1,734, Valley 80, Washington 301.
Counties with community spread: All counties except Adams, Butte and Franklin have been announced to have community spread.
