More than 400 new cases of coronavirus added in Idaho, with 111 in Ada County
As Idaho’s coronavirus numbers continue to climb, the state reported 413 new confirmed cases and 50 new probable cases on Monday — and that was without 13 counties that didn’t report numbers.
Because Monday was a federal holiday, some health districts didn’t provide updates, so the Statesman instead mostly used the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare numbers. The Panhandle Health District did not report new numbers Monday — Kootenai, Bonner, Benewah, Boundary and Shoshone counties. Southeastern Idaho Public Health — Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Butte, Caribou, Franklin, Oneida and Power — also did not report.
Ada County reported 111 new confirmed cases Monday, according to Health and Welfare, bringing the countywide total to 13,060 cases, most in the state by far.
Canyon County reported 68 new confirmed cases, bringing its total to 8,261 cases, according to Health and Welfare. That’s the second-highest number by county in Idaho.
With the 413 new confirmed cases, the statewide total stands at 43,897 people who have contracted the virus.
There were three new deaths tied to COVID-19 reported Monday, with two in Ada County and one in Canyon. The losses brings the statewide death toll to 511.
The new wave of cases has affected the state’s seven-day rolling average, which hit a record high on Sunday: 621.4 per day and dipped to 609.4 on Monday.
Health and Welfare on Monday also reported 5,003 “probable” cases (50 new) of the coronavirus and estimated that 24,523 people in Idaho had recovered.
Other counties that reported new confirmed cases of the virus include: Elmore 1 (316 total), Valley 1 (97 total), Latah 4 (684 total), Owyhee 4 (324 total), Payette 8 (873 total), Washington 6 (371 total), Twin Falls 44 (2,631 total), Blaine 9 (730 total), Minidoka 11 (825 total), Lincoln 2 (90 total), Jerome 10 (783 total), Gooding 5 (319 total), Cassia 16 (877 total), Bonneville 46 (2,787 total), Fremont 2 (269 total), Jefferson 10 (627 total), Lemhi 5 (114 total), Madison 50 (1,365 total).
University of Idaho testing
University of Idaho President Scott Green reported the latest results of coronavirus testing among students and staff, including a declining positivity rate.
“We received test results on 3,642 students from last Monday through Sunday evening and saw a positivity rate of 2.20%. By the end of this week, we will have tested most, if not all, of our in-person Moscow-based students and moved any lingering asymptomatic students into isolation,” Green wrote.
The campus has three fraternities and sororities in quarantine, down from 14 last week, and 31 students from Greek and on-campus residences in isolation. Green said the school’s positivity rate had been 2.96%.
Green went on to address recommendations and numbers from the White House task force.
“Last week, a White House working group recommended that some Idaho universities go online, including the University of Idaho, citing an 80.7% positivity rate among 18-24-year-olds in Latah County,” Green said. “Obviously, this data is incorrect. The White House working group would have no way of knowing that we are a masked community, have our own lab, that we aggressively test asymptomatic students and employees, that we model the positive cases and respond to results, that we monitor and respond to wastewater sampling, or that the positive cases we have experienced were isolated to particular living groups.”
Daily Details
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 2,058 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 481 admissions to the ICU and 3,210 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 Oct. 11, the health system was reporting 60 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 433 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 11%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Oct. 11, the health system was reporting 28 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 321 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 10.8%.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Oct. 6: Boise Online School (1), Cynthia Mann Elementary (1), Frank Church High School (2), Hidden Springs Elementary (1), Hawthorne Elementary (1), Koelsch Elementary (1), North Junior High (1), Whitney Elementary (1).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Monday, Health and Welfare reported that 338,000 people had been tested statewide. About 13% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Counties with community spread: All counties except Adams have been announced to have community spread.
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 13,060, Adams 27, Bannock 1,312, Bear Lake 53, Benewah 159, Bingham 1,050, Blaine 730, Boise 58, Bonner 361, Bonneville 2,787, Boundary 51, Butte 61, Camas 31, Canyon 8,261, Caribou 136, Cassia 877, Clark 33, Clearwater 84, Custer 70, Elmore 316, Franklin 205, Fremont 269, Gem 314, Gooding 319, Idaho 233, Jefferson 627, Jerome 783, Kootenai 2,982, Latah 684, Lemhi 114, Lewis 49, Lincoln 90, Madison 1,365, Minidoka 825, Nez Perce 489, Oneida 30, Owyhee 324, Payette 873, Power 278, Shoshone 218, Teton 210, Twin Falls 2,631, Valley 97, Washington 371.
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 7:19 PM.
