Coronavirus: NNU to resume in-person classes, Meridian to close city offices
Northwest Nazarene University students and faculty will return to in-person classes on Wednesday, following a week-long “stay-in-place” order to combat coronavirus spread on campus.
The directive — which was implemented last week as coronavirus cases grew across campus — will expire Tuesday night, according to a news release from the Nampa university.
“Although we must remain vigilant, we are pleased that our case numbers are beginning to trend in the right direction,” NNU President Joel Pearsall said in a news release. “When we started to see an increase in cases last week, we knew we needed to address the issue proactively. We initiated several changes and the NNU community responded in a positive way. Their collective actions seem to have helped to interrupt the spread we were starting to observe.”
When classes resume, the campus will have safety measures carry over from the stay-in-place directive, including saliva screenings, grab-and-go meals and restrictions on campus visitors.
Classes will be in-person until Nov. 25 when students go on Thanksgiving break. After the holiday, students will have the option whether to return to campus or finish the semester remotely. The semester ends Dec. 10.
Meridian will close city offices to public; appointments available
Meridian city administrators closed city offices to the general public Monday to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Despite the closure, city officials will continue to work either in offices or remotely, and appointments can be made to conduct city business, according to a news release from the city. City officials made the decision to close offices following Idaho Gov. Brad Little’s announcement to roll the state back to Stage 2 of reopening.
Meridian City Council meetings will continue to be open to the public, though the in-person capacity will be limited to 10 people. Meetings are broadcast online.
While city parks remain open, sports leagues and in-person events hosted through the city are canceled. Meridian Homecourt and the Initial Point Gallery are closed until further notice.
Services like police, fire, water and wastewater will continue to operate without interruption. Passport application appointments scheduled through the city clerk’s office will proceed as scheduled.
For a list of the most current COVID-19 updates for Meridian, go to www.meridiancity.org/coronavirus.
10 more dead, 1,000 new coronavirus cases in Idaho
On Monday, 10 Idahoans were added to the list of coronavirus-related deaths, which is now up to 773.
Among the newly-reported deaths was a Bonneville County woman in her 40s, who is the 15th person in that age group to die from the virus in Idaho.
Two other deaths were reported in Bonneville, as well as two more in Caribou County. Single deaths were reported in Bingham, Canyon, Ada, Kootenai and Jefferson counties.
Idaho health districts reported 1,158 new cases Monday — 983 confirmed coronavirus cases and 175 probable cases.
According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Ada County reported 150 new confirmed cases on Monday, bringing its total to 18,843 cases. Nez Perce County also had cases in the triple-digits on Monday, reporting 126 new confirmed cases, according to North Central Public Health District. Canyon County reported 89 new confirmed cases according to Southwest District Health, as its total grew to 11,564.
Several Idaho counties reported double-digit case counts on Monday, including Latah (63 new), Idaho (20), Clearwater (58), Bannock (39), Bingham (31), Gem (10), Kootenai (64), Bonneville (57), Fremont (11), Jefferson (20), Madison (46), Cassia (33), Jerome (24), Minidoka (15) and Twin Falls (54).
The state’s total for confirmed cases is now up to 71,578. There are also 11,985 probable cases, according to Health and Welfare. Of those with the virus, 35,530 are presumed to have recovered by Health and Welfare.
As of Monday, 433,222 people have been tested for the coronavirus in Idaho, and about 16.5% of those tested were positive, according to Health and Welfare.
All counties except Adams have reports of community spread.
All of Idaho’s 44 counties have confirmed cases of the coronavirus: Ada 18,843, Adams 72, Bannock 2,285, Bear Lake 119, Benewah 217, Bingham 1,557, Blaine 1,025, Boise 88, Bonner 662, Bonneville 4,815, Boundary 128, Butte 98, Camas 39, Canyon 11,564, Caribou 254, Cassia 1,725, Clark 39, Clearwater 280, Custer 111, Elmore 533, Franklin 409, Fremont 579, Gem 525, Gooding 617, Idaho 511, Jefferson 1,026, Jerome 1,391, Kootenai 5,437, Latah 1,349, Lemhi 356, Lewis 138, Lincoln 255, Madison 3,055, Minidoka 1,405, Nez Perce 1,614, Oneida 81, Owyhee 452, Payette 1,173, Power 346, Shoshone 380, Teton 369, Twin Falls 4,969, Valley 166, Washington 521.
