COVID-19: Idaho lowers case backlog, positivity rate drops, CDC updates mask guidance
COVID-19 health metrics improved in Idaho over the past seven days, as the state’s test positivity rate continued to tumble. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also relaxed masking guidance for counties in Idaho and across the U.S.
The statewide test positivity rate fell to 10% for the week of Feb. 13, the most recent data available. That figure is much lower than the record high of close to 38% recorded the week of Jan. 16, at the peak of Idaho’s omicron surge, according to data from the Department of Health and Welfare.
But that number is still higher than the 5% or less that health officials aim for to indicate control of a respiratory pandemic.
Since Feb. 18, Idaho has recorded 10,266 new COVID-19 cases, but the case data in recent weeks has been distorted by a backlog of thousands of cases from the surge’s high point in mid-January, when local public health districts were receiving the same number of lab reports per hour as they had during entire days before the omicron surge, said Dr. Kathryn Turner, deputy state epidemiologist, in a blog post.
The backlog means that even though 2,051 new cases were reported to the state Friday, some of those likely date from earlier this month.
On Friday, there were around 17,000 positive lab reports — not all of which represent new cases — that had yet to be processed. As of Feb. 14, nearly 60% of the backlogged cases came from Central District Health, which includes Ada County, while around 15% were from Southwest District Health, which includes Canyon County. Twenty percent were from the South Central district, which includes Blaine and Twin Falls counties, Turner said.
The number of backlogged cases exceeded 40,000 in early February, so that has been cut by more than half.
As of Friday, there have been 15,702 total hospitalizations, 15,733 health care workers infected and 2,663 people admitted to intensive care, according to state data.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have been falling in Idaho since the end of January. As of Friday, there were 276 patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 at Idaho hospitals and 62 in intensive care.
Less than 54% of Idahoans 5 or older are fully vaccinated, which health officials have said leaves large portions of the state’s population vulnerable to infection or reinfection with COVID-19.
The number of vaccine doses administered each week has been declining since the end of November, although the state saw a small bump the first week of January, during the omicron surge, state data show.
The week of Nov. 28, there were around 52,000 doses of vaccine administered, which includes first, second or booster doses. The week of Feb. 20, that number was around 5,000 doses administered.
CDC updates risk calculations, mask guidelines
On Friday, the CDC updated the way it calculates the severity of the pandemic in U.S. counties, a move that resulted in lessened mask recommendations in much of Idaho.
Whereas previous CDC guidelines recommended indoor masking in counties with substantial or high community spread of the virus, the new guidelines take into account other factors, including the number of hospital beds in use, the number of hospital admissions and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in a certain area.
Under the previous guidelines, nearly every part of the state has exhibited high levels of transmission for months. But under the new, broader metrics, the federal guidelines no longer recommend masks for the general population in much of the geographical area of Idaho.
But masks are still recommended in the Treasure Valley, the population center, where the risk level is “high,” as well as in the rest of Southwest Idaho and in Bonner County in North Idaho. None of the counties affected has a mask mandate in place.
Until mid-February, many parts of Southern Idaho were in crisis standards of care, which allows hospitals to ration care if necessary, and health officials have maintained in recent weeks that Idaho’s hospitals are still strained.
In areas with “medium” risk, the CDC recommends people at high risk of severe illness talk to a doctor about whether they should still wear a mask. In all parts of the country, including those with “low” risk, the CDC recommends that Americans get vaccinated and stay up to date with their vaccinations, and get tested if they have symptoms.
The new guidance also notes that people can choose to wear face coverings for added protection, regardless of the circumstances.
Long-term care
At long-term care facilities, 335 new cases have been recorded in the past week.
As of Friday, Health and Welfare reports there are 12,457 active coronavirus cases among 205 long-term care facilities. There are 155 facilities with resolved outbreaks.
To date, 1,072 people from 224 facilities in Idaho have died from COVID-19-related causes — ten more than were reported last Friday. Long-term care deaths account for about 23% of the 4,730 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 (2), Ammon (1), Ashton (1), Bellevue (1), Blackfoot (3), Boise (43), Bonners Ferry (3), Buhl (1), Burley (4), Caldwell (6), Chubbuck (2), Coeur d’Alene (10), Eagle (5), Emmett (5), Fruitland (1), Garden City (2), Glenns Ferry (1), Gooding (1), Grangeville (2), Hayden (2), Homedale (1), Idaho Falls (6), Jerome (3), Kellogg (1), Kimberly (2), Kootenai (1), Kuna (1), Lewiston (9), McCall (1), Meridian (17), Montpelier (1), Moscow (3), Mountain Home (2), Nampa (13), Orofino (2), Parma (1), Payette (3), Pocatello (12), Post Falls (4), Rexburg (2), Rupert (1), Salmon (1), Sandpoint (3), Shoshone (1), Silverton (1), St. Maries (1), Star (2), Twin Falls (11), Weiser (1), Wendell (2), Winchester (1).
Weekly snapshot
Vaccine doses administered in Idaho: 2,285,108, according to Health and Welfare. Of those, 921,690 people have been fully vaccinated, which accounts for 53.8% of Idahoans age 5 and older.
Test positivity rate: Out of the 19,832 COVID-19 tests conducted for the week of Feb. 13-Feb. 19, 10% came back positive.
For a list of daily numbers in the Treasure Valley, visit our “What We Know” story.
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 7:02 PM.
