Record positivity rates reported across Idaho as COVID-19 cases continue to soar

The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on Idaho continues to worsen by nearly every metric the state uses to track it.

Thursday, updated positivity rates reported by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and local health districts broke records again. Roughly 20% of Idahoans tested were positive for the coronavirus last week, up from 18.3% the previous week. That means roughly one of every five Idahoans tested had the coronavirus last week.

Positivity rates for four of the state’s seven health districts also broke records. Boise-based Central District Health reported 18.5% positivity, health districts based in Coeur d’Alene (Panhandle) and Lewiston (North Central) reported 24% and 21.6% positivity rates and the Southeastern Idaho Public Health District based in Pocatello recorded a 15.5% positivity rate. Eastern Idaho Public Health District was at a state-high 24.4%, but that’s not the district record.

The state’s seven health districts reported 1,462 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 390 new probable cases Thursday — for a total of 1,852 new cases.

Ada County added 452 new confirmed COVID-19 cases (26,308 total), raising the county’s seven-day average to a record 403.1 cases. Kootenai County (8,685 total) in North Idaho and Canyon County (15,715 total) also recorded large case increases Thursday with 249 and 269 new cases, respectively. With many health districts lagging behind on case counts and contact tracing across the state, the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare still reported big case increases in several counties on the eastern side of the state, including 53 new cases in Bannock County (3,248 total), 81 in Bonneville (6,778 total) and 67 in Madison (4,311 total).

Other counties reporting new cases Thursday included: Adams (1 new, 102 total), Bear Lake (1 new, 171 total), Benewah (8 new, 294 total), Bingham (22 new, 2,034 total), Blaine (7 new, 1,338 total), Boise (3 new, 141 total), Bonner (21 new, 1,131 total), Boundary (2 new, 200 total), Butte (1 new, 116 total) Cassia (8 new, 2,098 total), Clearwater (26 new, 569 total), Custer (4 new, 151 total), Elmore (19 new, 798 total), Franklin (3 new, 609 total), Fremont (5 new, 737 total), Gem (25 new, 935 total), Gooding (3 new, 787 total), Idaho (6 new, 752 total), Jefferson (13 new, 1,413 total), Jerome (7 new, 1,682 total), Latah (15 new, 1,827 total), Lewis (4 new, 232 total), Lincoln (3 new, 317 total), Madison (67 new, 4,311), Minidoka (5 new, 1,650 total), Nez Perce (11 new, 2,434 total), Oneida (4 new, 140 total), Owyhee (10 new, 713 total), Payette (13 new, 1,524 total), Power (2 new, 392 total), Shoshone (11 new, 603 total), Twin Falls (17 new, 5,979 total), Valley (4 new, 247 total), Washington (7 new, 690 total).

Health districts and IDHW also reported the deaths of 20 more Idahoans Thursday, including three in Bonneville (89 total), three in Twin Falls (104 total), and one each in Canyon (170 total), Gem (9 total), Payette (18 total), Washington (14 total), Ada (276 total), Clearwater (3 total), Nez Perce (41 total), Jefferson (12 total), Bear Lake (2 total), Cassia (20 total), Gooding (14 total), Idaho (14 total), Jerome (15 total) and Minidoka (21 total).

As of Thursday, Idaho has recorded 99,030 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,145 deaths related to the coronavirus.

Central District Health meeting rescheduled for Tuesday

The board of Central District Health will again attempt to vote on a districtwide public health order, after a dramatic cancellation of the original meeting made national headlines.

The original meeting was canceled after less than 20 minutes Tuesday night after protesters converged outside the meeting and several board members’ homes. Commissioner Diana Lachiondo tearfully and abruptly left the meeting to check on her children, and Boise Mayor Lauren McLean asked the board to end the meeting shortly after.

Like the last meeting, board members will vote on a new order applying to Ada, Valley, Boise and Elmore counties that would mandate masks in public and private places where 6-foot distancing is not an option with nonhousehold members. Boise and Elmore counties haven’t had mask mandates previously.

The new meeting is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. Written public comments for this meeting will be accepted up until 3:30 p.m. Monday to allow time for the board to review. Written comments can be sent to boh@cdh.idaho.gov or delivered to 707 N. Armstrong Pl., Boise, ID 83704, Attention Board of Health / Russ Duke.

Daily Details

Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 4,671 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 862 admissions to the ICU and 5,715 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 Dec. 9, the health system was reporting 125 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 474 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 18%.

Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Dec. 9, the health system was reporting 98 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 397 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 27.5%.

Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Dec. 1: District Services (5), DTEC (1), Hawthorne Elementary (2), Liberty Elementary (2), Lowell Elementary (1), Monroe Elementary (1), Pierce Park Elementary (1), Riverglen Junior High (1), South Jr. High (1), Taft Elementary (1), Trail Wind Elementary (1), Whitney Elementary (2).

West Ada School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff for Nov. 27-Dec. 10: Centennial High (21), Central Academy (2), Eagle Academy (5), Eagle High (17), Idaho Fine Arts (2), Meridian Academy (2), Meridian High (28), Mountain View High (28), Renaissance High (10), Rocky Mountain High (38), Crossroads Middle (1), Eagle Middle (8), Heritage Middle (12), Lake Hazel Middle (13), Lewis and Clark Middle (11), Lowell Scott Middle (6), Meridian Middle (8), Pathways Middle (2), Sawtooth Middle (10), Star Middle (5), Victory Middle (5), Barbara Morgan STEM (5), Cecil D. Andrus Elementary (2), Chaparral Elementary (1), Chief Joseph School of the Arts (4), Christine Donnell (5), Desert Sage Elementary (4), Discovery Elementary (3), Eagle Hills Elementary (2), Eliza Hart Spalding STEM (1), Frontier Elementary (1), Galileo STEM Academy (2), Hillsdale Elementary (3), Hunter Elementary (3), Joplin Elementary (1), Lake Hazel Elementary (1), Mary McPherson (1), Meridian Elementary (3), Paramount Elementary (3), Pioneer School of the Arts (3), Pleasant View Elementary (2), Ponderosa Elementary (4), Prospect Elementary (5), Seven Oaks Elementary (1), Siena Elementary (3), Silver Sage Elementary (2), Star Elementary (1), Summerwind STEM Academy (1), Ustick Elementary (1), Willow Creek Elementary (3).

Testing totals: At the end of the day Thursday, Health and Welfare reported that 499,102 people had been tested statewide. About 19.8% of those have been positive for COVID-19.

Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 26,308, Adams 102, Bannock 3,248, Bear Lake 171, Benewah 294, Bingham 2,034, Blaine 1,338, Boise 141, Bonner 1,131, Bonneville 6,778, Boundary 200, Butte 116, Camas 42, Canyon 15,715, Caribou 269, Cassia 2,098, Clark 43, Clearwater 569, Custer 151, Elmore 798, Franklin 609, Fremont 737, Gem 935, Gooding 787, Idaho 752, Jefferson 1,413, Jerome 1,682, Kootenai 8,685, Latah 1,827, Lemhi 381, Lewis 232, Lincoln 317, Madison 4,311, Minidoka 1,650, Nez Perce 2,434, Oneida 140, Owyhee 713, Payette 1,524, Power 392, Shoshone 603, Teton 444, Twin Falls 5,979, Valley 247, Washington 690.