Idaho reports 353 COVID-19 cases Sunday; Ada, Canyon report numerous ‘probable’ cases
Idaho health officials on Sunday reported a slight decrease in the number of daily coronavirus infections following a week that saw a record number of pandemic-related deaths in a single day.
Statewide, 353 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, were reported Sunday. It’s the first time since Oct. 4 that the state has reported fewer than 400 COVID-19 cases in a single day.
It’s too early to tell if the decline is indicative of a larger decrease in cases. Only one of the state’s seven health districts independently reports its counties’ case numbers on Sundays, which typically leads to lower case totals. Over the last week, Idaho has reported, on average, 824 new cases each day.
Officials also noted 123 “probable” cases on Sunday. More than half of those were in Ada and Canyon counties, which reported 33 and 37 probable cases, respectively. Since mid-October, Idaho has reported a spike in probable cases along with its spike in confirmed cases. In the last week, Ada County has added 263 probable cases, while Canyon County has reported 111.
A handful of Idaho counties reported new cases in the double digits on Sunday: Ada (92 new, 15,318 total), Bonneville (18 new, 3,729 total), Canyon (45 new, 9,625 total), Kootenai (65 new, 4,235 total), Madison (26 new, 2,426 total) and Twin Falls (42 new, 3,830 total).
The following counties also reported new cases Sunday: Bear Lake: 1 (71 total), Benewah (6 new, 185 total), Blaine (3 new, 870 total), Bonner (4 new, 472 total), Cassia (8 new, 1,346 total), Custer (1 new, 88 total), Elmore (2 new, 417 total), Fremont (4 new, 468 total), Gem (3 new, 388 total), Gooding (5 new, 506 total), Jefferson (9 new, 841 total), Jerome (7 new, 1,037 total), Lemhi (2 new, 254 total), Lincoln (2 new, 207 total), Minidoka (2 new, 1,153 total), Owyhee (1 new, 370 total), Power (3 new, 320 total), Shoshone (1 new, 283 total) and Washington (1 new, 432 total).
There have been 56,861 confirmed cases reported since the start of the pandemic. Health and Welfare estimates that 30,218 of the confirmed and probable cases have recovered.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 2,615 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 552 admissions to the ICU and 3,971 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. 31, the health system was reporting 81 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 425 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 15%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Oct. 31, the health system was reporting 30 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 315 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 9.9%.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Oct. 20: Amity Elementary (2), Boise High (4), Borah High (1), District Services Center (1), Fairmont Junior High (5), Frank Church High School (3), Grace Jordan Elementary (1), Hawthorne Elementary (1), Highlands Elementary (1), Liberty Elementary (1), Longfellow Elementary (1), Maple Grove Elementary (2), Monroe Elementary (2), Mountain View Elementary (1), North Junior High (4), Riverglen Junior High (1), Riverside Elementary (1), Roosevelt Elementary (2), Shadow Hills Elementary (2), Timberline High (5), Trail Wind Elementary (1), Valley View Elementary (1), West Junior High (2), White Pine Elementary (1), Whittier Elementary (1).
West Ada School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff for the weeks of Oct. 11-24: Centennial High (4), Eagle High (3), Idaho Fine Arts Academy (1), Meridian High (13), Mountain View High (6), Renaissance High (1), Rocky Mountain High (3), Eagle Middle (3), Heritage Middle (1), Lake Hazel Middle (2), Lowell Scott Middle (2), Meridian Middle (1), Sawtooth Middle (2), Victory Middle (1), Galileo STEM Academy (1), Hunter Elementary (1), McMillan Elementary (1), Meridian Elementary (1), Paramount Elementary (1), Prospect Elementary (1), River Valley Elementary (3).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Friday, Health and Welfare reported that 387,935 people had been tested statewide. About 14.6% 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 15,318, Adams 58, Bannock 1,914, Bear Lake 71, Benewah 185, Bingham 1,294, Blaine 870, Boise 69, Bonner 472, Bonneville 3,729, Boundary 89, Butte 89, Camas 35, Canyon 9,625, Caribou 229, Cassia 1,346 Clark 33, Clearwater 131, Custer 88, Elmore 417, Franklin 321, Fremont 468, Gem 388, Gooding 506, Idaho 361, Jefferson 841, Jerome 1,037, Kootenai 4,235, Latah 948, Lemhi 254, Lewis 80, Lincoln 207, Madison 2,426, Minidoka 1,153, Nez Perce 865, Oneida 59, Owyhee 370, Payette 1,019, Power 320, Shoshone 283, Teton 278, Twin Falls 3,830, Valley 118, Washington 432.
This story was originally published November 1, 2020 at 6:28 PM.
