This article was originally published by Rachel Roberts in the Idaho Statesman.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Idaho has reached an all-time high for the fifth time in nine days.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare on Wednesday reported a record 286 hospitalizations statewide as of Monday, the most recent day for which data was available. That’s up from a previous high of 274 set just three days earlier. There were 72 patients in intensive care, three short of the record.
The state’s seven health districts announced a combined 648 new confirmed and 208 new probable cases of the coronavirus for a total of 856 new cases Wednesday. Eleven deaths were added to increase the state’s total to 600. There have been 131 coronavirus-related deaths reported during the month of October.
The latest deaths were in Bonneville (5 new, 35 total), Bingham (3 new, 22 total), Cassia (1 new, 9 total), Gooding (1 new, 8 total) and Minidoka (1 new, 9 total) counties. The Bonneville County deaths included two males and two females who were all in their 80s and one female in her 60s, according to Eastern Idaho Public Health. The Bingham County deaths were two males and one female who were all in their 80s, according to Southeastern Idaho Public Health.
Idaho’s case fatality rate is about 0.97%.
Idaho’s seven-day moving average of new confirmed and probable cases stands at 879.9 — the seventh consecutive day with an average over 800. The Gem State’s seven-day average was 481.3 on Oct. 1 and has since increased 82.8%.
Ada County added 122 new confirmed cases (14,787 total) to push its seven-day average to 142. Ada County was averaging 80.1 cases per day as of Oct. 1, which shows an increase of 77.3%.
Twin Falls County joined Ada in triple digits, reporting 103 new confirmed cases (3,626 total). Six of the eight counties in South Central Public Health District have reached the “critical risk” health alert level — Cassia (19 new, 1,282 total), Gooding (21 new, 471 total), Jerome (27 new, 976 total), Lincoln (7 new, 178 total), Minidoka (8 new, 1,103 total) and Twin Falls counties.
In the Panhandle Health District, Kootenai and Boundary counties have also reached the critical risk category within the last week. Kootenai County saw its total increase by 55 cases (3,894) and Boundary County — home to about 11,000 residents — grew by four cases to 73 total.
The other counties adding new confirmed cases were Adams (1 new, 52 total), Bannock (13 new, 1,785 total), Bear Lake (1 new, 67 total), Benewah (3 new, 172 total), Bingham (8 new, 1,268 total), Blaine (13 new, 843 total), Boise (2 new, 64 total), Bonner (2 new, 438 total), Bonneville (36 new, 3,612 total), Butte (1 new, 85 total), Canyon (88 new, 9,317 total), Caribou (7 new, 218 total), Custer (1 new, 85 total), Elmore (8 new, 384 total), Franklin (4 new, 308 total), Fremont (4 new, 450 total), Gem (1 new, 369 total), Idaho (3 new, 355 total), Jefferson (10 new, 814 total), Lemhi (15 new, 222 total), Madison (23 new, 2,304 total), Nez Perce (10 new, 808 total), Oneida (2 new, 52 total), Owyhee (5 new, 363 total), Payette (6 new, 992 total), Power (1 new, 310 total), Shoshone (2 new, 264 total), Teton (5 new, 263 total) and Washington (7 new, 419 total).
There have been 54,366 confirmed cases reported since the start of the pandemic along with 7,592 probable cases. Health and Welfare estimates that 28,890 of those cases have recovered.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 2,514 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 546 admissions to the ICU and 3,806 health care workers infected. Hospital and health care numbers are based on cases with completed investigations into contacts, not the full number of positives.
St. Luke’s Health System: As of Oct. 27, the health system was reporting 82 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 504 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 14%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Oct. 27, the health system was reporting 33 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 357 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 9.8%.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Oct. 20: Amity Elementary (2), Boise High (3), Borah High (1), District Services Center (1), Fairmont Junior High (2), Frank Church High School (2), Highlands Elementary (1), Monroe Elementary (2), Mountain View Elementary (1), North Junior High (2), Roosevelt Elementary (1), Shadow Hills Elementary (2), Timberline High (2), West Junior High (1), Whittier Elementary (1).
West Ada School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff for the weeks of Oct. 11-24: Centennial High (4), Eagle High (3), Idaho Fine Arts Academy (1), Meridian High (13), Mountain View High (6), Renaissance High School (1), Rocky Mountain High (3), Eagle Middle (3), Heritage Middle (1), Lake Hazel Middle (2), Lowell Scott Middle (2), Meridian Middle (1), Sawtooth Middle (2), Victory Middle (1), Galileo STEM Academy (1), Hunter Elementary (1), McMillan Elementary (1), Meridian Elementary (1), Paramount Elementary (1), Prospect Elementary (1), River Valley Elementary (3).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Wednesday, Health and Welfare reported that 378,214 people had been tested statewide. About 14.4% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Counties with community spread: All counties except Adams have been announced to have community spread.
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 14,787, Adams 52, Bannock 1,785, Bear Lake 67, Benewah 172, Bingham 1,268, Blaine 843, Boise 64, Bonner 438, Bonneville 3,612, Boundary 73, Butte 85, Camas 34, Canyon 9,317, Caribou 218, Cassia 1,282, Clark 33, Clearwater 126, Custer 85, Elmore 384, Franklin 308, Fremont 450, Gem 369, Gooding 471, Idaho 355, Jefferson 814, Jerome 976, Kootenai 3,894, Latah 915, Lemhi 222, Lewis 77, Lincoln 178, Madison 2,304, Minidoka 1,103, Nez Perce 808, Oneida 52, Owyhee 363, Payette 992, Power 310, Shoshone 264, Teton 263, Twin Falls 3,626, Valley 108, Washington 419.
