Saint Al’s training Guard to help at COVID-19 clinics; Nampa closes City Hall
Idaho National Guardsmen are training to assist at COVID-19 testing clinics at Saint Alphonsus’ Meridian Health Plaza and 12th Ave. in Nampa.
The move came after Gov. Brad Little announced last week the activation of 100 Guard members to assist health care providers in the state.
The governor’s order enables Air and Army National Guard soldiers to be deployed for 30 days. Saint Al’s is utilizing the troops to help address staffing shortages caused by the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the community, according to a news release from Saint Alphonsus Health System.
“Due to the increased incidence of COVID-19 and community need for testing and evaluation, we have prioritized our clinical staffing at our Saint Alphonsus COVID testing sites, resulting in temporary suspension of services at other urgent care clinics,” said Dr. Mark Nassir, President of the Saint Alphonsus Medical Group, in a news release. “The assistance provided by the Idaho National Guard medical personnel brings incredible lift to our mission. We express gratitude and thanks on behalf of the hard-working, dedicated health care professionals serving on the front lines of this pandemic battle, as they care for all patients across our Idaho communities.”
The Guard personnel will assist with both clinical and nonclinical tasks, including traffic control, patient registration and collecting samples for analysis by the on-site lab.
“The Idaho National Guard is proud to support our front-line health care workers and greatly appreciate the warm welcome our Airmen and Soldiers have received from the professional staff at Saint Alphonsus,” said Brig. Gen. Russ Johnson in a news release.
Guard officials stress that the personnel assigned to assist are not themselves working in front-line medical civilian jobs, so their deployment to assist Saint Alphonsus and other health care providers in the state will not jeopardize medical care at other facilities.
Panhandle implements mask order, Magic Valley board rejects one
The district board of health for the Panhandle Health District, which consists of Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai and Shoshone counties, implemented an emergency order Thursday for the wearing of face coverings in public.
The board cited an increase in hospitalizations for patients with COVID-19 at Kootenai Health, the main health system in Kootenai County, and a growing concern that the health care provider would not be able to provide appropriate levels of care for all patients if the upward trend continued at the current rate.
The order is effective immediately and will be in effect for approximately 60 days leading up to the board’s January 2021 meeting.
According to the order, every person in the district is required to wear a face covering that completely covers the nose and mouth when in a public place and physical distancing of 6 feet cannot be maintained.
The same night, the board members of South Central Public Health District narrowly voted down a public health order that would have mandated masks throughout the district, and instituted fines and possible jail time for offenders.
The order failed 5-4, with the representatives from Cassia, Jerome, Gooding, Twin Falls and Lincoln counties voting against it. The board members from Camas, Blaine and Minidoka counties voted in favor of the order, as did Keith David, the board’s medical consultant.
The health district, which is based in Twin Falls, covers eight counties in the largely rural, agricultural Magic Valley region where cases have been surging for several weeks. St. Luke’s Magic Valley, the largest hospital in the region and one of the largest in the state, has diverted ICU patients several times in the last few weeks because of an influx of patients with COVID-19.
Before the vote, Idaho health care leaders warned their hospitals were reaching capacity. Dr. Jim Souza of St. Luke’s health system said Idaho hospitals could be forced to begin implementing crisis standards of care by December.
Idaho Labor changes phone number for unemployment claim help
Because of a newly installed phone system, the Idaho Department of Labor has changed its number for people to call for unemployment insurance claims due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting on Monday those who need help with their claims should call (208) 332-8942. The old 800 number will no longer be used, according to a news release from the Labor Department.
Staff are available to answer phones from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. MST from Monday through Friday. Spanish-speaking staff will also be available to take calls.
The department hired and trained roughly 60 additional staff to help with the call load, which has increased since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak. Of those, 49 employees will be dedicated to answering calls.
Ada County Highway District to close lobby to public
The Ada County Highway District will close the lobby of its Garden City office starting on Monday, Nov. 23, according to a news release from the district.
It is not clear when the lobby might reopen. The highway district has held all meetings online since March, a policy that will continue.
Staff will still be able to fulfill public requests remotely, and appointments can be made if meeting with someone face-to-face is necessary.
Nampa City Hall to close starting Friday
Nampa city officials announced its City Hall will close to the public starting on Friday, Nov. 20, a result of the spread of COVID-19, according to a news release from the city.
City Hall will operate by appointments only for at least the next two weeks. All city departments will continue to operate through online services, email and phone calls.
The city services that can be contacted remotely include the following:
- Clerk’s Office (208) 468-5415 | clerks@cityofnampa.us
- Human Resources (208) 468-4412 | hrstaff@cityofnampa.us
- Mayor’s Office (208) 468-5401 | mayor@cityofnampa.us
For more information, go to the city’s website at www.cityofnampa.us.
Idaho positive test rate grows again; 23 new COVID-19 deaths
The state’s coronavirus positive test rate increased for the ninth straight week, according to the latest numbers from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
For the week of Nov. 8-14, 17.8% of the 37,507 tests taken in Idaho returned positive. That positive rate is up from the previous week, Nov. 1-7, where 16.7% of the 36,877 taken were positive. Health officials say a positive test rate below 5% demonstrates a control over the spread of the virus.
By health district in the past week, South Central District Health had the highest rate with 23.2%, while Southeastern Idaho Public Health had the lowest with 10.7%. Southwest District Health, which includes Canyon County, reported a positive testing rate of 20.1%. For Central District Health, which includes Ada County, the positive rate for the week was 15.8%.
Idaho health district reported 23 new coronavirus deaths on Thursday, bringing the state’s fatality count to 837. The state’s fatality rate is about 0.95%.
Of Thursday’s deaths, eight were reported in Ada County, which now has 223 reported fatalities due to COVID-19. Three deaths were reported in Twin Falls, while pairs of deaths were reported in Bannock, Canyon and Kootenai.
Health districts also reported a total of 1,578 total cases Thursday — 1,279 new confirmed and 299 probable. The confirmed case count is the third-largest total in a single day.
Canyon County reported the most new cases in the state with 238, as its total grew to 12,103. Ada was just behind with 220 new cases and an increased total of 19,604. Kootenai County also reported a triple-digit case count Thursday, as 109 new cases grew its total to 5,807.
Several counties reported double-digit caseloads Thursday, including Madison (90 new), Twin Falls (89), Bonneville (78), Idaho (49), Bingham (43), Latah (38), Bannock (36), Cassia (29), Jerome (29), Nez Perce (27), Gem (24), Blaine (15), Bonner (18), Elmore (10), Gooding (11), Jefferson (19), Minidoka (14), Owyhee (11), Payette (13) and Shoshone (12).
Idaho has 75,420 confirmed cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic began, as well as 12,894 probable cases. Of those with the virus, Health and Welfare estimates that 36,831 people have recovered.
All counties except Adams have reports of community spread.
All of Idaho’s 44 counties have confirmed cases of the coronavirus: Ada 19,604, Adams 74, Bannock 2,387, Bear Lake 134, Benewah 228, Bingham 1,659, Blaine 1,095, Boise 92, Bonner 720, Bonneville 5,111, Boundary 140, Butte 101, Camas 39, Canyon 12,103, Caribou 258, Cassia 1,797, Clark 39, Clearwater 304, Custer 118, Elmore 570, Franklin 444, Fremont 590, Gem 587, Gooding 647, Idaho 589, Jefferson 1,086, Jerome 1,457, Kootenai 5,807, Latah 1,455, Lemhi 362, Lewis 149, Lincoln 268, Madison 3,250, Minidoka 1,451, Nez Perce 1,801, Oneida 95, Owyhee 492, Payette 1,220, Power 354, Shoshone 429, Teton 380, Twin Falls 5,223, Valley 170, Washington 541.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 12:07 PM.
