Idaho health districts report record COVID-19 marks; overall positivity rate up again
It isn’t too late to start taking COVID-19 precautions seriously. And South Central and East Idaho folks, health care experts really hope you’re paying attention.
South Central Public Health District and Eastern Idaho Public Health posted record numbers for the week of Oct. 4-10.
SCPHD reported more than 840 cases during that span, which is more cases for the district than in March and April combined. Twin Falls, Cassia and Minidoka counties are headed toward critical (red) health risk levels because of surging case counts and positivity rates. This in turn has put a strain on the region’s hospitals, where staff and bed availability have been severely impacted.
“Our case trends and the impact we are seeing to our health care system is alarming,” said Melody Bowyer, SCPHD District Director, in a news release. “If we continue this course, we will likely reach critical risk level by next Thursday in several counties.”
EIPH recorded a positivity rate of 22.6% for Oct. 4-10, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. It is the highest rate for any of the state’s seven health districts at any point during the pandemic. Madison County has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases per 1,000 residents in Idaho over the past 14 days at 19.8.
The battle to slow the virus isn’t going much better statewide. Idaho reported 652 new confirmed and 146 new probable cases of COVID-19 on Thursday to match the state’s all-time record of 798 new cases set Tuesday. Idaho’s seven-day moving average also reached an all-time high at 641.0 cases per day.
Southeastern Idaho Public Health announced the death of a male in his 60s from COVID-19. It is the 13th death in the county from the virus and the 521st statewide.
Idaho’s positivity rate increased for the fourth consecutive week, showing a rate of 11.4% on 25,298 tests for Oct. 4-10. That’s up from a rate of 10.3% on 25,022 tests for Sept. 27-Oct. 3.
Only two health districts — Idaho North Central District and Central District Health — had a drop in positivity. CDH, which includes Ada County, had the lowest rate at 6.7%, down from 6.8% the previous week.
Seven counties saw their case loads increase by 30 or more confirmed cases on Thursday. Ada County hit triple digits with 108 new cases (13,305 total), Twin Falls County added 86 cases (2,785 total) and Canyon County increased by 72 cases (8,427). Bonneville (57 new, 2,916 total), Bannock (36 new, 1,421 total), Minidoka (34 new, 881 total) and Kootenai (33 new, 3,115 total) counties also experienced significant increases.
The other counties adding new confirmed cases Thursday were Adams (1 new, 29 total), Bingham (12 new, 1,117 total), Blaine (12 new, 750 total), Bonner (5 new, 377 total), Boundary (2 new, 55 total), Caribou (4 new, 161 total), Cassia (23 new, 948 total), Custer (5 new, 80 total), Elmore (5 new, 326 total), Franklin (2 new, 232 total), Fremont (7 new, 300 total), Gem (6 new, 328 total), Gooding (17 new, 345 total), Idaho (4 new, 259 total), Jefferson (9 new, 662 total), Jerome (22 new, 815 total), Latah (7 new, 752 total), Lemhi (7 new, 134 total), Lewis (4 new, 57 total), Lincoln (3 new, 102 total), Madison (21 new, 1,524 total), Nez Perce (23 new, 544 total), Owyhee (3 new, 330 total), Payette (7 new, 903 total), Power (5 new, 291 total), Shoshone (4 new, 224 total), Teton (2 new, 227 total) and Washington (4 new, 382 total).
Health and Welfare also reported 5,387 “probable” cases (146 new) of the coronavirus and estimated that 25,214 people in Idaho had recovered. There have been 45,737 confirmed cases reported in Idaho since the start of the pandemic.
Daily details
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 2,137 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 494 admissions to the ICU and 3,302 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. 14, the health system was reporting 59 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 511 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 12%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Oct. 14, the health system was reporting 34 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 366 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 11.8%.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Oct. 6: Amity Elementary (1), Boise Online School (1), Cynthia Mann Elementary (1), district services (2), Frank Church High School (2), Hidden Springs Elementary (1), Hawthorne Elementary (1), Koelsch Elementary (1), North Junior High (1), Riverside Elementary (1), Roosevelt Elementary (1), Valley View Elementary (1), White Pine Elementary (1), Whitney Elementary (1).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Thursday, Health and Welfare reported that 345,585 people had been tested statewide. About 13.2% 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 13,305, Adams 29, Bannock 1,421, Bear Lake 56, Benewah 159, Bingham 1,117, Blaine 750, Boise 59, Bonner 377, Bonneville 2,916, Boundary 55, Butte 64, Camas 31, Canyon 8,427, Caribou 161, Cassia 948, Clark 33, Clearwater 97, Custer 80, Elmore 326, Franklin 232, Fremont 300, Gem 328, Gooding 345, Idaho 259, Jefferson 662, Jerome 815, Kootenai 3,115, Latah 752, Lemhi 134, Lewis 57, Lincoln 102, Madison 1,524, Minidoka 881, Nez Perce 544, Oneida 35, Owyhee 330, Payette 903, Power 291, Shoshone 224, Teton 227, Twin Falls 2,785, Valley 99, Washington 382.
