Idaho’s COVID-19 week: With positivity rate sky-high, new omicron version arrives
As the omicron surge continues, a new sub-lineage of the variant has been identified in Idaho, and data continue to show the improved health outcomes for vaccinated people who get breakthrough cases as opposed to unvaccinated people who get sick.
Cases have continued to balloon in the Gem State this week, with 19,983 new cases recorded since Jan. 21. The state is also facing a backlog of around 41,500 positive lab results that have not yet been processed and put in the data dashboard, thus skewing the reported data.
Though the backlog remains large, it decreased slightly on Friday for the first time in weeks. On Thursday, the number of outstanding positive tests was around 42,070.
Hospitalizations have risen, too, along with the numbers of health care staff calling out sick. The dual crises prompted the state Department of Health and Welfare to reactivate crisis standards of care for much of Southern Idaho on Monday.
The state’s test positivity rate has also swelled to unprecedented levels. The week of Jan. 16, the proportion of COVID-19 tests that were positive in Idaho rose to 38.8%, the highest percentage seen during the pandemic by a factor of two.
Since mid-December, the state has clocked five straight weeks of rising positivity rates, with each week since Jan. 2 setting a new record. Before the omicron surge, the highest rate was 19.1%, recorded one week in November 2020.
As of Jan. 26, there were 543 hospitalized patients with suspected and confirmed COVID-19 in Idaho, and 107 COVID-19 patients in intensive care. There were also 22 children hospitalized with COVID-19 — more than at any other point during the pandemic.
Data on unvaccinated outcomes
Hospitals continue to report that a large majority of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, Dr. Steven Nemerson, chief clinical officer at Saint Alphonsus Health System, said that during the omicron surge, roughly 80% of COVID-19 patients have been unvaccinated, 10% have been partially vaccinated and 10% have been fully vaccinated. He noted that his definition of “fully vaccinated” includes a booster dose, which is recommended by health officials for added protection.
Crisis standards were reactivated in three health districts — including those that govern Ada and Canyon counties — at the request of Saint Al’s, according to Health and Welfare.
Omicron has marked yet another surge for Idaho, and many health care workers are exhausted and getting breakthrough cases. But unvaccinated Idahoans are roughly 4.5 times more likely to be hospitalized than fully vaccinated people, and are over four times more likely to die, according to data from Health and Welfare regarding case rates since May 15, 2021.
Data also show that unvaccinated Idahoans with severe illness on average spend more time in the hospital than vaccinated people who get severely ill, are more likely to be admitted to an ICU unit and are younger.
As of Friday, 14,771 Idahoans have been hospitalized with COVID-19, 2,495 have been admitted to intensive care and 14,454 health care workers have been infected. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 376,094 total cases and 4,400 deaths, with 77 deaths reported over the past week.
New version of omicron
On Friday, Health and Welfare announced that a sub-variant of the omicron strain of the coronavirus has been confirmed in Ada County.
Variants occur when the virus that causes COVID-19 mutates, and new versions of the virus that have significant changes in transmissibility or other characteristics have prolonged the pandemic.
While a lineage called BA.1 is causing 98% of COVID-19 infections in Idaho, the new sub-lineage, called BA.2, has some different mutations.
“Very early data from Asia and Europe indicate there have not been major differences in disease severity or the effectiveness of currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines against the BA.2 sub-lineage,” according to a press release from Health and Welfare.
But health officials caution that treatments and vaccines against COVID-19 may be less effective against future variants, and natural immunity from infection may not protect against the lineages that could be headed our way.
“The identification of the first infection with this sub-variant of omicron is a reminder that the virus that causes COVID-19 will continue to mutate as long as it is being transmitted,” Dr. Christine Hahn, state epidemiologist, said in the release. The news is also “a reminder of the importance of vaccination and other measures to protect yourself from this virus.”
The sub-lineage has been identified so far in 22 states and more than 40 countries, according to Health and Welfare.
Unlike the first version of omicron, which is often quickly detectable on COVID-19 test results in a laboratory, BA.2 looks more like prior versions of the coronavirus on tests. But the different sub-lineage is still detectable on laboratory tests, officials said.
Long-term care
At long-term care facilities, 1,745 new cases have been recorded in the past week, and 30 new facilities have active infections.
As of Friday, Health and Welfare reports there are 10,422 active coronavirus cases among 185 long-term care facilities. There are 173 facilities with resolved outbreaks.
To date, 1,036 people from 223 facilities in Idaho have died from COVID-19-related causes — seven more than were reported last Friday. Long-term care deaths account for about 24% of the 4,400 in the state.
Below is a list of Idaho cities along with the number of facilities in each city that have active cases among residents and/or staff. For an outbreak to be considered “resolved,” more than 28 days must pass (two incubation periods) without any additional cases associated with the facility.
American Falls (1), Ammon (2), Ashton (1), Bellevue (1), Blackfoot (3), Boise (38), Bonners Ferry (2), Burley (4), Caldwell (4), Chubbuck (1), Coeur d’Alene (11), Eagle (5), Emmett (3), Fruitland (1), Garden City (2), Gooding (1), Grangeville (2), Hayden (1), Homedale (1), Idaho Falls (8), Jerome (2), Kellogg (1), Kimberly (2), Kootenai (1), Kuna (1), Lewiston (9), McCall (1), Meridian (12), Montpelier (1), Moscow (1), Mountain Home (2), Nampa (11), Orofino (2), Payette (2), Pocatello (11), Post Falls (4), Preston (2), Rexburg (2), Rigby (1), Rupert (1), Salmon (1), Sandpoint (3), Shelley (1), Shoshone (1), Silverton (1), Soda Springs (1), St. Maries (1), Star (1), Twin Falls (10), Weiser (2), Wendell (1), Winchester (1).
Weekly snapshot
Vaccine doses administered in Idaho: 2,239,894, according to Health and Welfare. Of those, 908,966 people have been fully vaccinated, which accounts for 53.1% of Idahoans age 5 and older.
Test positivity rate: Out of the 55,007 COVID-19 tests conducted for the week of Jan. 16-Jan. 22, 38.8% came back positive.
For a list of daily numbers in the Treasure Valley, visit our “What We Know” story.
