After peaking Dec. 10, Idaho’s daily COVID-19 case average has decreased nearly 50%

Idaho is showing signs of progress in its fight to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The state’s seven-day moving average dropped to 838 new cases per day as of Wednesday, reaching its lowest point since Nov. 1. After peaking at 1,650.3 new cases per day on Dec. 10, the average has decreased by 49.2%, including drops 18 of the past 20 days.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and the state’s seven public health districts added 1,076 new confirmed cases and 323 new probable cases Wednesday for a total of 1,399 new cases. There also were 14 new coronavirus-related deaths reported for a total of 1,409 deaths since the pandemic reached Idaho.

The latest deaths were in Ada (5 new, 343 total), Bonner (1 new, 14 total), Bonneville (2 new, 116 total), Canyon (2 new, 214 total), Fremont (1 new, 14 total), Gem (1 new, 20 total), Madison (1 new, 15 total) and Payette (1 new, 24 total) counties. Idaho’s case fatality rate is about 1%.

Boise-based Central District Health reported Monday it had cleared about two-thirds of the backlogged data in Ada County, which added 296 new confirmed cases on Wednesday for a total of 32,891 cases.

Kootenai County, which is home to Coeur d’Alene, saw its total increase by 220 new confirmed cases (11,192 total). Canyon (123 new, 17,838 total), Bannock (75 new, 3,831 total), Bonneville (48 new, 7,654 total), Bonner (34 new, 1,617 total), Nez Perce (31 new, 2,774 total) and Payette (23 new, 1,689 total) counties also experienced significant increases.

The other counties reporting new confirmed cases were: Adams (9 new, 196 total), Bear Lake (6 new, 207 total), Benewah (5 new, 347 total), Bingham (8 new, 2,264 total), Blaine (14 new, 1,441 total), Boise (1 new, 186 total), Boundary (13 new, 264 total), Caribou (2 new, 282 total), Cassia (9 new, 2,238 total), Clearwater (5 new, 626 total), Elmore (8 new, 1,022 total), Franklin (4 new, 712 total), Fremont (4 new, 776 total), Gem (16 new, 1,101 total), Gooding (4 new, 843 total), Idaho (3 new, 811 total), Jefferson (7 new, 1,553 total), Jerome (17 new, 1,776 total), Latah (12 new, 2,028 total), Lemhi (-1 new, 392 total), Lewis (1 new, 251 total), Lincoln (1 new, 340 total), Madison (10 new, 4,630 total), Minidoka (5 new, 1,763 total), Oneida (1 new, 176 total), Owyhee (7 new, 787 total), Power (2 new, 421 total), Shoshone (14 new, 788 total), Teton (4 new, 481 total), Twin Falls (18 new, 6,307 total), Valley (12 new, 392 total), Washington (5 new, 755 total).

Idaho has reported 116,020 confirmed cases overall, plus 24,014 probable cases. Health and Welfare estimates that 57,770 Idahoans have recovered from the virus.

Health and Welfare said Wednesday that Idaho has received 56,225 doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and those initial vaccinations are being administered to health care workers and long-term care staff and residents. Another 1,950 doses of COVID-19 vaccine are expected to be delivered to Idaho providers Thursday.

IDHW said it updates the total number of doses administered by 10 a.m. each day on its website. The total reported does have some lag time due to the time required to enter reports of vaccinations into medical records and transfer to the state’s immunization registry, Health and Welfare said.

Health and Welfare to hold weekly press briefings on COVID-19 vaccine

Idaho Gov. Brad Little announced Wednesday that the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare will begin weekly, virtual press briefings regarding the COVID-19 vaccine starting in early January.

The governor’s office announced in a news release Wednesday that the governor is directing Health and Welfare to conduct regular briefings, with the first set to take place Tuesday, Jan. 5. A time for the briefing was not made public as of Wednesday afternoon.

“The availability of the safe COVID-19 vaccine is a lifeline in our pandemic fight, and I know there are a lot of questions about vaccine distribution,” Little said in a news release. “My administration is committed to transparency and getting out the best information on the vaccine as effectively as possible.”

Emily Callihan, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said in an email Wednesday that the weekly press briefings from IDHW on vaccines will be separate from Little’s press briefings on the status of COVID-19 in Idaho.

“We want to make the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine available to as many people as possible as quickly as possible,” IDHW Director Dave Jeppesen said in the press release. “The best way to ensure that is to make sure Idahoans have the most up-to-date information we can provide so they know what to expect and when.”

St. Vincent de Paul to host mobile food pantry Saturday for Idaho musicians

St. Vincent de Paul of Southwest Idaho will provide food relief to Idaho musicians impacted by the coronavirus outbreak this Saturday.

The Boise-based organization will be giving away food to those in need from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Boise Hive — a local nonprofit dedicated to reducing suicide in the music community — located at 3907 Custer Drive.

The event will give out a week’s worth of groceries to all people who work in the live music industry, including bands, clubs and any facet of music making.

Groceries will be given out via drive-through or by walking up to the event. For those driving, cars should approach from the west, from Pershing Drive onto Custer Drive.

Saturday’s food giveaway would be the second event in recent weeks from St. Vincent de Paul to target a specific group impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. On Dec. 23, the organization went to downtown Boise and handed out meals for restaurant workers, another group hit hard financially due to the coronavirus.

Daily Details

Vaccine doses administered in Idaho: 13,686, according to Health and Welfare.

Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 5,567 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 1,012 admissions to the ICU and 6,978 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. 29, the health system was reporting 65 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 467 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 13%.

Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Dec. 29, the health system was reporting 90 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 395 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 23.6%.

Testing totals: At the end of the day Wednesday, Health and Welfare reported that 543,268 people had been tested statewide. About 21.4% of those have been positive for COVID-19.

Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 32,891, Adams 196, Bannock 3,831, Bear Lake 207, Benewah 347, Bingham 2,264, Blaine 1,441, Boise 186, Bonner 1,617, Bonneville 7,654, Boundary 264, Butte 131, Camas 42, Canyon 17,838, Caribou 282, Cassia 2,238, Clark 44, Clearwater 626, Custer 161, Elmore 1,022, Franklin 712, Fremont 776, Gem 1,101, Gooding 843, Idaho 811, Jefferson 1,553, Jerome 1,776, Kootenai 11,192, Latah 2,028, Lemhi 392, Lewis 251, Lincoln 340, Madison 4,630, Minidoka 1,763, Nez Perce 2,774, Oneida 176, Owyhee 787, Payette 1,689, Power 421, Shoshone 788, Teton 481, Twin Falls 6,307, Valley 392, Washington 755.

This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 7:31 PM.