COVID-19 in Idaho: Test positivity rate lower; 661 cases recorded in a week
Idaho’s COVID-19 test positivity continues to drop, and the state recorded only a few hundred cases in the span of a week, data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare shows.
On Thursday, IDHW reported that the test positivity rate — the percentage of all tested performed that came back positive for COVID — was 1.4% for the most recent week available, March 20-26. That’s one-tenth of a percentage point lower than the previous week and another record low positivity for the state since the pandemic began two years ago. The positivity rate reached a peak of nearly 40% in mid-January.
Case numbers statewide have remained low. In the past week, IDHW reported 661 cases of COVID-19, with nearly 72% of those cases reported in Ada County.
Still, Ada County and most of Idaho’s other counties remain in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “low” community level. The CDC rating takes into account cases, deaths and hospitalizations. The only Idaho county not in the low level is Benewah County, which has been in the “medium” level for the past week.
The CDC recommends that residents stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccinations and follow CDC recommendations for isolation and quarantine if there is a known exposure regardless of community levels.
Health and Welfare reported 11 new COVID-related deaths the past seven days and removed two deaths from Kootenai County, for a total of nine new deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, Idaho officials have recorded 4,876 deaths and 444,210 cases.
On Monday, Idaho Gov. Brad Little vetoed a bill that would have banned many private businesses from mandating COVID-19 vaccines for a year. Little said the bill would expand government overreach into the private sector.
Vaccination rates statewide have stagnated, with about 4,000 vaccine doses administered the past week. About 54.4% of eligible Idahoans have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
Long-term care
At long-term care facilities, 25 new cases have been recorded in the past week.
As of Friday, Health and Welfare reports there are 6,981 active coronavirus cases among 107 long-term care facilities. There are 256 facilities with resolved outbreaks.
To date, 1,105 people from 231 facilities in Idaho have died from COVID-19-related causes — four more than were reported last Friday. Long-term care deaths account for about 23% of the 4,876 in the state.
Weekly snapshot
Vaccine doses administered in Idaho: 2,317,075, according to Health and Welfare. Of those, 931,061 people have been fully vaccinated, which accounts for 54.4% of Idahoans age 5 and older.
Test positivity rate: Out of the 15,329 COVID-19 tests conducted for the week of March 20-26, 1.4% came back positive.
