Health officials: Crisis standards of care ‘imminent’ in Southern Idaho as COVID spreads
Citing a continued rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations, state health officials stressed Tuesday that Southern Idaho was teetering on the brink of something never before seen in the region: crisis standards of care.
“Hospitalizations in Southwest, Central and South Central health districts, which includes the Treasure Valley and the Magic Valley, are reaching a critical point,” Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen said at a news briefing Tuesday. “Without a change in direction, crisis standards of care are imminent for all three of those health districts.”
Crisis standards of care, which are already activated in two North Idaho districts, allow hospitals to ration care and could even result in less than optimal care for patients admitted for any reason.
Dr. Christine Hahn, the state epidemiologist, said that it is taking longer for many patients in the state who need intensive care to be transferred to an available bed or to a hospital that has ICU beds.
On Friday, there were 626 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 in the state, a record significantly higher than the peak last winter, which was 496 patients on Dec. 1, according to state data. There were also 169 patients with COVID-19 in intensive care on Friday.
According to Jeppesen, the state is also seeing the highest use of ventilators during the pandemic, with a daily average of 98.
“The numbers continue to increase, they continue to increase at an alarmingly fast rate, and we cannot see a peak in sight,” he said.
In North Idaho, the opening of a monoclonal antibody treatment center has been postponed until Wednesday because of a shipping delay, Hahn said. The treatments have been shown to reduce severe illness in patients if administered close to symptom onset, and Gov. Brad Little has previously committed to opening three such centers — in North Idaho, East Idaho and the Treasure Valley.
The number of daily cases continues to climb steeply in Idaho, which health officials suggest indicates that the state’s peak is yet to be seen. The Gem State’s vaccination numbers remain poor, with the state just recently reaching 50% of eligible residents fully vaccinated. And as caseloads increase, younger Idaho adults are making up more of the death toll.
From mid-April through the second week of September in 2020, more than half — over 56% — of COVID-19 deaths had occurred in people 80 or older, according to state data. Over that same period in 2021, only 36% of deaths were in that age group, with more than 57% of the deaths coming in those between 50 and 79 years old. The share of deaths occurring in people between the ages of 18 and 49 also has doubled, from 3.4% in 2020 to 7.2% in 2021.
“It’s a much younger population losing their lives to COVID-19 this year,” Kathryn Turner, Idaho’s deputy state epidemiologist, said Tuesday.
Despite the emergency situation at hospitals, Little and public health districts have resisted implementing measures such as mask mandates, restrictions on large gatherings or vaccine requirements.
“Ideally, those actions are best done at a local level,” Jeppesen said.
This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 5:39 PM.
