‘The death and the despair’: Idaho adds 1,218 COVID cases, 40 deaths as hospitals buckle
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Idaho crisis standards of care
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced that it has activated crisis standards of care statewide, allowing hospitals to strategically ration health care if they become overwhelmed.
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With hospitals past their breaking points, COVID-19 infections continued to climb on Thursday. The state added 1,218 new cases and 40 deaths, according to updated data from the Department of Health and Welfare.
The state’s test positivity rate rose to 16.9% for the week starting Sept. 5, which is well above the 5% mark used by health experts to determine whether a pathogen’s spread is out of control. That rate has been climbing drastically over the past two months. From July 4-10, it was 4.6%, the last time it was below 5%.
With hospitalization levels now exceeding those seen during the peak last winter, the state announced on Thursday that hospitals could ration health care. At St. Luke’s Health System, which requested the measure, overwhelmed caregivers are reducing how often they monitor patients’ vital signs, among other contingency measures, according to Dr. Jim Souza, the system’s chief physician executive.
As of Sept. 13, there were 678 patients hospitalized in Idaho with suspected or confirmed COVID-19, and there were 173 COVID-19 patients in an intensive care unit, according to data from Health and Welfare.
During last winter’s peak, there were 496 COVID-19 patients hospitalized.
“I am scared,” said Dr. Steven Nemerson, chief medical officer for Saint Al’s, at a press conference with hospital leaders in the state on Thursday. “While we are currently able to tread water and ... continue to deliver a reasonable standard of care, it’s going to decline, simply because a caregiver can’t get to a patient fast enough.”
Nemerson’s hospital system is currently operating under “the most extreme contingency standards,” he said, but has not shifted to crisis standards yet. But the hospital’s modeling indicates the climb in patients will “continue on unabated” over the next several weeks.
Four counties exceeded 100 new cases on Thursday: Ada (339), Canyon (178), Kootenai (121) and Twin Falls (115). Kootenai added 13 of the 40 deaths, and Ada recorded six.
Idaho has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, with only 50.5% of the state’s eligible population (12 and older) fully vaccinated, according to data. According to health system leaders, more than 90% of patients with COVID-19 in a hospital are unvaccinated.
As of Thursday, there have been a total of 10,520 COVID-19 hospitalizations, 1,747 intensive care admissions and 11,747 health care workers infected.
At Thursday’s press conference, Sandee Gehrke, chief operating officer of St. Luke’s, emphasized the strain the crisis is putting on the state’s health care professionals.
“It’s heartbreaking to hear our team talk about the stress that they see and experience when they’re working 10 shifts in a row, and they don’t get to see their families,” she said. “They are seeing the death and the despair that COVID is bringing to us.”
For a breakdown of the day’s new cases by county, read our “What we know” story.
This story was originally published September 16, 2021 at 7:17 PM.
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