Idaho’s COVID-19 case count soars again; how Boise State aims to control spread of virus
Idaho’s daily COVID-19 caseload is headed in the wrong direction.
The state’s seven health districts on Friday reported more than 400 confirmed cases of the coronavirus for the third time in the last five days, this time adding 589 confirmed and 55 probable cases for a total of 644 new cases. It is the fourth-most in a single day for the Gem State since the pandemic began.
Idaho’s seven-day moving average has ballooned to 400 cases per day, up from 231.9 less than two weeks ago.
Ada County’s caseload increased by 107 confirmed cases to 11,613 overall. It is the most cases in a single day for the county since Aug. 22. Central District Health also added 25 probable cases in Ada County.
Eastern Idaho Public Health was hit the hardest on Friday, announcing a combined 172 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. Madison County, which is home to BYU-Idaho, accounted for 73 of those cases.
The school sent an email to students on Friday warning of a potential campus closure if the rise in cases continues.
“BYU-Idaho is deeply concerned by the increase of active COVID-19 cases in our region and on campus,” the email said. “Students and employees are asked to carefully follow the required health restrictions established by Eastern Idaho Public Health (EIPH). We are committed to honoring civil authority. The university’s ability to keep campus open will be determined by EIPH thresholds, including active cases and hospital bed capacity.
“If EIPH guidelines are not followed and the current trend continues, it may require a reclosure of campus, which would impact all of us in difficult and unfortunate ways.”
In addition to Ada and Madison counties, 12 other counties added 10 or more cases: Bonneville (60 new, 2,177 total), Kootenai (48 new, 2,608 total), Canyon (41 new, 7,605 total), Cassia (35 new, 638 total), Latah (33 new, 395 total), Twin Falls (28 new, 1,958 total), Bannock (27 new, 967 total), Bingham (20 new, 884 total), Jefferson (19 new, 454 total), Fremont (13 new, 171 total), Minidoka (10 new, 613 total) and Franklin (10 new, 112 total).
The other counties reporting new confirmed cases were Blaine (8 new, 623 total), Bonner (6 new, 299 total), Butte (3 new, 31 total), Camas (1 new, 23 total), Caribou (2 new, 97 total), Clearwater (5 new, 42 total), Custer (1 new, 52 total), Gem (6 new, 274 total), Gooding (5 new, 235 total), Jerome (4 new, 658 total), Lemhi (3 new, 68 total), Lewis (1 new, 14 total), Lincoln (1 new, 70 total), Nez Perce (3 new, 402 total), Oneida (2 new, 23 total), Payette (5 new, 753 total), Power (5 new, 226 total), Teton (3 new, 147 total) and Valley (1 new, 84 total).
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reported one new death in Twin Falls County. It is the 37th death in the county from the virus and the 458th statewide. The state also removed one death from Kootenai County after it was determined COVID-19 was not the cause of death, according to an email from Panhandle District Health spokesperson Katherine Hoyer. Kootenai County’s death toll from the virus stands at 34.
Since the start of the pandemic, 36,504 Idahoans have tested positive for the coronavirus. Health and Welfare reported 3,525 “probable” cases (55 new). IDHW estimates that of those infected, 21,291 people are presumed recovered.
Boise State cases rise, but so does testing
Boise State University’s off-campus students were the primary source of new COVID-19 infections during the past week, according to the school’s data dashboard.
Boise State reported 85 new cases in the last week — with 60 involving off-campus students.
That’s up from 77 and 42 total cases the previous two weeks.
“Students, as much as we try to dissuade them from congregating, they still do,” said Alicia Estey, vice president for compliance, legal and audit and the president’s chief of staff, in a video interview. “And I understand it. It’s hard to be an 18-year-old and not hang out with your friends, and so we keep pushing, wear masks, distance when you’re together.”
Boise State has built a public health operation around trying to prevent spread of the coronavirus and keep the campus open this fall — a challenge some universities haven’t been able to conquer.
The university has 30 employees in its new public health unit, Estey said, including contact tracers who handle all of the on-campus contact tracing for university cases. Central District Health still handles the tracing of off-campus contacts.
“We have to be able to, particularly for our residence halls, start contact tracing immediately,” Estey said. “That’s the only way we’re going to avoid major cluster outbreaks.”
Boise State’s enrollment increased slightly this semester despite the pandemic, and interest in residence halls remained at the usual level, Estey said. On-campus housing is near capacity, with 200-300 spots intentionally left vacant.
So far, 83 residential students have tested positive for COVID-19. That’s about half as many cases as the off-campus students have contributed (159).
Ten faculty and staff members have tested positive since Aug. 15.
Boise State is working to create a testing lab that will serve the campus and the larger community, Estey said, and to implement saliva tests. The school started last week conducting asymptomatic testing of residential students — a process that will continue into November.
That’s one reason the number of cases in residential students increased last week.
Residential students who test positive are moved into an isolation bed in one of the residence halls that has suite-style rooms with kitchens, Estey said. Forty-four of the 115 available beds were in use through Thursday.
Isolated students receive a nightly food delivery that includes a hot dinner and breakfast and lunch for the next day. Isolations last for at least 10 days, and will be extended if the person hasn’t been symptom-free for the last three days.
Isolated students also get checked on by the nurses who are part of the public health department — with mental health a concern as well as physical.
“We have started to see that on about the fourth day of isolation our students kind of feel down,” Estey said, “so we’re trying to watch for mental health issues and address it right away. It’s tough to be in a confined space for 10 days.”
Quarantines can be even more difficult.
Off-campus students are asked to quarantine for 14 days on top of their infected roommate’s isolation period. That leads to quarantines of 24 days or more.
Boise State has, so far, avoided an extensive outbreak that could lead to a campus shutdown like those at places like North Carolina, Notre Dame and Michigan State.
The case numbers are still higher than Estey would like. She meets daily with the public health team to evaluate the university’s position.
“We’re not going to reduce it to zero, and we all recognize that,” she said. “I, of course, always want our numbers to be lower. But it feels like we’re doing OK.
“… We’re not averse to closing things down temporarily if we have to do it. That’s not a failure. That’s a suppression tactic, and we’ll use it if we need to.”
College student cases, even for those from out of state, are reflected in the case numbers for the county where the students are living while attending school, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare said Friday.
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 seven to 173 overall, total individual cases jumped by 204 to 2,628 cases, and deaths rose by 13 to 256, with two new facilities recording a death.
Active cases increased slightly to 1,658 at 76 facilities — up from 1,622 at 76 facilities last week. There are 97 facilities with resolved outbreaks.
Below is a list of long-term care facilities by city that have active cases of the coronavirus:
American Falls: Power County Nursing Home; Blackfoot: Gem Village Assisted Living, Bingham Memorial Skilled Nursing; Boise: 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, Overland Court Senior Living, Willow Park Senior Living, Arbor Village at Hillcrest, Arbor Valley of Cascadia, Life Care of Treasure Valley, Veranda Senior Living-Barber Station, MorningStar Memory Care at Englefield Green, Good Samaritan Society-Boise Village, Avamere Transitional Care, Park Place Assisted Living of Boise, Edgewood Castle Hills;
Buhl: Desert View Care; Burley: Mini Cassia Care Center; Caldwell: Canyon West of Cascadia, Grace Assisted Living, Lenity Senior Living; Challis: Diamond Peak Health Care of Challis; Coeur d’Alene: Lacrosse Health & Rehab; Eagle: Paramount Parks; Emmett: Apple Valley Residence, Cherry Ridge Center; Fruitland: Edgewood Spring Creek Fruitland; Homedale: Owyhee Health & Rehab; Idaho Falls: Tambree Meadows Assisted Living, Life Care Center of Idaho Falls, Yellowstone Group Home No. 1, Teton Post-Acute Care and Rehab; Kellogg: Mountain Valley of Cascadia; Kimberly: Oak Creek, Ashely Manor-Buttercup Trail; Lewiston: The Orchards, State Veterans Home-Lewiston;
Meridian: Creekside Transitional Care, Touchmark at Meadow Lake Village, Copper Springs Senior Living, Aspen Transitional Rehab, Edgewood Spring Creek Meridian, Golden Years Oak Crest, The Cottages-Meridian, Veranda Senior Living-Paramount; Moscow: Good Samaritan Society-Moscow Village; Nampa: Orchards of Cascadia, Meadow View Nursing & Rehab, Heron Place, Streamside Assisted Living, Cascadia of Nampa, Grace Assisted Living-Nampa, Southwest Idaho Treatment Center, Karcher Estates, Sunny Ridge; Payette: The Cottages-Payette Pocatello: Quail Ridge, Gateway Transitional Care Center, Brookdale Pocatello;
Post Falls: Life Care of Post Falls; Preston: Franklin County Transitional Care; Rexburg: Madison Carriage Cove, Temple View Transitional Care; Rupert: Countryside Care and Rehab; Shoshone: Lincoln County Care Center; Soda Springs: Edgewood Spring Creek Soda Springs; Twin Falls: Grace Assisted Living-Twin Falls, Brookdale Twin Falls, Rosetta Assisted Living-Twin Falls, Serenity Transitional Care; Weiser: Weiser Care of Cascadia, Communicare No. 6 Weiser; Winchester: Lakeside Assisted Living.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 1,795 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 451 admissions to the ICU and 2,688 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. 24, the health system was reporting 25 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 7%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Sept. 24, the health system was reporting 28 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 387 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 7.8%.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Sept. 22: Borah High School (2 cases), Boise Online school (1), Hawthorne Elementary (1) and Hillside Junior High (1).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Friday, Health and Welfare reported that 298,652 people had been tested statewide. About 12.2% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Counties with community spread: All counties except Adams, Butte and Franklin have been announced to have community spread.
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 11,613, Adams 27, Bannock 967, Bear Lake 46, Benewah 141, Bingham 884, Blaine 623, Boise 53, Bonner 299, Bonneville 2,177, Boundary 47, Butte 31, Camas 23, Canyon 7,605, Caribou 97, Cassia 638, Clark 27, Clearwater 42, Custer 52, Elmore 263, Franklin 112, Fremont 171, Gem 274, Gooding 235, Idaho 186, Jefferson 454, Jerome 658, Kootenai 2,608, Latah 395, Lemhi 68, Lewis 14, Lincoln 70, Madison 560, Minidoka 613, Nez Perce 402, Oneida 23, Owyhee 296, Payette 753, Power 226, Shoshone 213, Teton 147, Twin Falls 1,958, Valley 84, Washington 329.
