Coronavirus: Boise-area officials meet to talk mask enforcement; hospitalizations up
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean said Wednesday that officials from the city, county and local law enforcement were meeting Thursday to have talks about mask compliance amid the coronavirus pandemic.
”It’s just to have a conversation about how we can ensure that people are following orders like our mask order, and that businesses that are open are following it too,” she said. “We want to do everything we can to make sure that the numbers start to head down.”
She said the concern was that as Boise hospitals begin to take in patients from around the state, because hospitals elsewhere are full, they could eventually hit capacity.
McLean encouraged people to get flu shots, saying that could help cut down on the number of people who need to be hospitalized with influenza this year, as well as help to strengthen people’s immune systems.
”I will say, I am terrified of needles, but I’m getting a flu shot because it’s so, so important,” she said.
McLean did not specify who was planning to take part in the conversation, but she said its purpose was to find ways for local entities to be “supportive and helpful” for Central District Health.
She noted that city data on mask compliance indicated that between 67% and 73% of people are wearing masks. A mask mandate remains in place in Ada County, but there is not strict enforcement.
Asked whether she anticipated any further mask recommendations, McLean said the Boise Police Department has been working to be responsive when businesses ask for help enforcing the order.
Hospitalizations increase in Idaho, over 850 cases added
Idaho has yet again set a record for coronavirus hospitalizations, reporting that 286 people across the state were hospitalized as of Wednesday, according to figures from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. That figure is up from 274, the previous high for hospitalizations.
State health officials added 648 new confirmed coronavirus cases on Wednesday, as well as 208 new probable cases. As of Wednesday, Idaho had 54,366 confirmed cases and 7,592 probable cases of the coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 respiratory disease. Of those confirmed cases, the Department of Health and Welfare estimates that 28,890 people have recovered. Idaho’s seven-day moving average for new cases is now at 879.9.
Idaho also added 11 coronavirus-related deaths to its total, which reached 600 on Wednesday.
Five of those deaths were reported in Bonneville county, which now has 35 deaths. Eastern Idaho Public Health reported that four of the deaths involved people in their 80s — two men and two women — and the other Bonneville death was a woman in her 60s.
Three deaths were reported in Bingham County, as well as single deaths in Cassia, Gooding and Minidoka counties. The Bingham County deaths were said to be two men and one woman in their 80s, according to Southeastern Idaho Public Health.
Both Ada and Twin Falls counties reported triple-digit case totals on Wednesday, adding 122 and 103 confirmed cases, respectively. Canyon County added 88 confirmed cases on Wednesday, bringing its total to 9,317.
Numerous Idaho counties reported double-digit increases on Wednesday, including Cassia (19 new), Gooding (21), Jerome (27), Kootenai (55), Bannock (13), Blaine (13), Bonneville (36), Jefferson (10), Lemhi (15), Madison (23) and Nez Perce (10).
As of Wednesday, Health and Welfare reports that 378,214 people have been tested for the coronavirus in Idaho, with around 14.4% of tests returning negative.
Coronavirus cases have been reported in all of Idaho’s 44 counties: Ada 14,787, Adams 52, Bannock 1,785, Bear Lake 67, Benewah 172, Bingham 1,268, Blaine 843, Boise 64, Bonner 438, Bonneville 3,612, Boundary 73, Butte 85, Camas 34, Canyon 9,317, Caribou 218, Cassia 1,282, Clark 33, Clearwater 126, Custer 85, Elmore 384, Franklin 308, Fremont 450, Gem 369, Gooding 471, Idaho 355, Jefferson 814, Jerome 976, Kootenai 3,894, Latah 915, Lemhi 222, Lewis 77, Lincoln 178, Madison 2,304, Minidoka 1,103, Nez Perce 808, Oneida 52, Owyhee 363, Payette 992, Power 310, Shoshone 264, Teton 263, Twin Falls 3,626, Valley 108, Washington 419.
