Idaho’s latest hot spot continues to add COVID-19 cases at high rate; statewide average rises
Madison County in eastern Idaho has become a hotbed of confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Madison added 29 new cases on Sunday, according to the Eastern Idaho Public Health District, and now has 620 total. The county added 73 new cases Friday, and 235 in the past seven days. Only lightly populated Camas County has a higher rate of cases per capita over the past 14 days, though it has only reported 23 cases in that time.
Madison is home to BYU-Idaho, and the school sent an email to students on Friday warning of a potential campus closure if the rise in cases continues.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Eastern Idaho Public Health reported 154 new confirmed cases of the virus statewide on Sunday — the fewest since 116 were reported last Sunday. Since the pandemic began, 37,052 Idaho residents have tested positive.
Even with the lowest number of new cases of the week, Idaho’s seven-day average of new cases increased to 432.6 because it was a larger count than the previous Sunday — the highest the average has been since Aug. 14.
No new deaths were reported Sunday, leaving the statewide total at 460.
Other counties reporting new cases on Sunday included Ada (33 new, 11,741 total), Bonneville (22 new, 2,227 total), Canyon (24 new, 7,666 total), Custer (6 new, 59 total), Fremont (7 new, 182 total), Gem (3 new, 292 total), Jefferson (17 new, 479 total), Latah (3 new, 399 total), Teton (1 new, 153 total), Payette (5 new, 764 total), Valley (2 new, 86 total), Washington (2 new, 335 total).
Health and Welfare reported 27 new probable cases Sunday, leaving the statewide total at 3,602. IDHW also estimates that 21,630 patients are presumed to have recovered.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 1,814 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 452 admissions to the ICU and 2,720 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. 26, the health system was reporting 27 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 406 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 6.6%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Sept. 26, the health system was reporting 21 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 357 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 5.8%.
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 Saturday, Health and Welfare reported that 303,252 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 11,741, Adams 27, Bannock 981, Bear Lake 46, Benewah 142, Bingham 905, Blaine 634, Boise 55, Bonner 300, Bonneville 2,227, Boundary 47, Butte 31, Camas 27, Canyon 7,666, Caribou 98, Cassia 653, Clark 28, Clearwater 42, Custer 59, Elmore 263, Franklin 118, Fremont 182, Gem 292, Gooding 237, Idaho 187, Jefferson 479, Jerome 662, Kootenai 2,629, Latah 399, Lemhi 73, Lewis 15, Lincoln 72, Madison 620, Minidoka 621, Nez Perce 403, Oneida 24, Owyhee 300, Payette 764, Power 232, Shoshone 213, Teton 153, Twin Falls 1,984, Valley 86, Washington 335.
