Confirmed coronavirus cases climb past 40 in Idaho; one involves Middleton school
More positive tests in Idaho for the virus that causes COVID-19 were announced Saturday afternoon, including three in Ada County and two more in Blaine County, which now has 21 cases, the most in the state, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Ada County’s total of confirmed cases is now 11; no details were released on the people who tested positive.
Health and Welfare’s website now shows 42 confirmed cases in Idaho, with more than 1,200 people tested.
An Idaho resident who was inside Middleton Middle School on March 11 and 12 accounted for the lone case in Canyon County so far, according to a joint media release from Southwest and Central District Health. Neither the health districts nor the school district would say whether the person is a man or a woman, or whether he or she works for the school district.
In a letter emailed Saturday afternoon to staff members and parents, Superintendent Sherawn Reberry said an “individual who is associated with our Middleton Middle School community has tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).”
Contacted by phone early Saturday evening, school district spokesman Vickie Holbrook said “we don’t have any other comment at this time.”
Southwest District Health and the Middleton School District are working to identify anyone who was in close contract with the individual. The health department and volunteers will then contact school staff and parents of children who had close contact with the person, the media release said.
Southwest Health’s call center, at 208-455-5411, is open until 8 p.m. Saturday and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday to take calls.
The other positive test Saturday came from Madison County, where a man under 70 is self-isolating at home and was not hospitalized, the Eastern Idaho Public Health district reported.
This story was originally published March 21, 2020 at 6:50 PM.
