This article was originally published by Nicole Blanchard of the Idaho Statesman.
Idaho health officials reported three new deaths related to COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, as well as more than 500 new confirmed infections on Saturday.
Two of Saturday’s three reported deaths were in Ada County, where 180 people have now died from COVID-19. No details were given on the age or sex of the deceased. The third death was a Bonneville County man in his 50s. To date, 38 people in Bonneville County have died from COVID-19. This week alone, officials reported 61 new Idaho deaths related to the disease.
The new deaths come amid a sustained surge in cases that continued Saturday, when health officials reported 512 new confirmed COVID-19 cases across the state. Including probables, Idaho added 745 new cases.
Ada County reported 139 new cases, bringing its total for the pandemic to 15,226 cases. No other counties reported triple-digit numbers on Saturday, a change of pace from earlier in the week. Ada County also reported 63 probable cases, bringing the county’s total cases for Saturday to 202.
Thirteen of Idaho’s 44 counties reported double-digit numbers of new cases on Saturday. Among them were several of the more populated counties in Idaho (like Canyon County, which added 34 cases to total 9,580 cases) and some more rural counties like Cassia (26 new, 1,338 total) and Minidoka (23 new, 1,151 total), which have become hot spots in recent weeks. Other counties that added double-digit new cases include: Bannock (29 new, 1,914 total), Bingham (13 new, 1,294 total), Bonneville (15 new, 3,711 total), Elmore (12 new, 415 total), Gooding (11 new, 501 total), Jerome (16 new, 1,030 total), Kootenai (57 new, 4,170 total), Lemhi (11 new, 252 total), Madison (18 new, 2,400 total) and Twin Falls (39 new, 3,788 total).
