COVID-19 decline: Idaho records lowest positivity rate since start of the pandemic
%20(1)%20(2)%20(1)%20(1).jpg "The positivity rate for the week of March 5 is the lowest recorded since the pandemic began.")
Only 2.5% of Idaho residents testing for COVID-19 were positive the week of March 5, the lowest positivity rate since the pandemic began and another sign that the tail end of the omicron wave has brought declining COVID-19 metrics.
The rate measures the percentage of COVID-19 tests that come back positive. During the omicron wave, the rate rose to a record 37.9% for the week of Jan. 16, shortly before the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reactivated crisis standards of care in much of Southern Idaho for the second time during the pandemic.
Crisis standards allow hospitals to ration care if necessary, and were needed given an influx of mostly unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, the department has said.
Since the last week of February, the statewide positivity rate has been below 5%, which is the benchmark many health experts aim for to indicate control of a respiratory pandemic.
The positivity rate also rose to a high rate during the delta wave in September, when it hit 17.3% the week of Sept. 5.
Along with the falling positivity rate this month has come a relaxation of public health guidelines in parts of Idaho.
So far this month, the Boise School District has dropped its mask requirement, and so has the city of Boise at its facilities. A governor-declared public health emergency declaration will end in April. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also relaxed masking guidelines, such that indoor masks are not currently recommended in the Treasure Valley.
The changes have also led Health and Welfare officials to change their data-gathering efforts.
At a press briefing Tuesday, Elke Shaw-Tulloch, administrator for the Division of Public Health, said officials will put “less emphasis on the day-to-day cases or changes in recorded case counts.”
The new CDC risk level guidelines have added metrics, like the number of newly admitted COVID-19 patients at hospitals and the percentage of patient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, to calculations of case rates in a particular county.
“Surveillance for COVID-19 will begin to look a little more like the routine surveillance that we do for other viral respiratory disease that we track, like influenza or (RSV),” said Dr. Kathryn Turner, deputy state epidemiologist.
Shaw-Tulloch added that Idaho is entering a “new phase” of the pandemic.
“The pandemic is not over,” she said. “The virus that causes COVID-19 is here to stay for the foreseeable future. This new phase is marked by ample testing capacity, access to high-quality masks, effective treatment and plenty of COVID-19 vaccine that is available to those aged five years and older.”
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 6:02 PM.
