This article was originally written by Nicole Blanchard for the Idaho Statesman.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little said Sunday that he’ll make an announcement Monday afternoon regarding COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, as the state again set a new record daily case rate.
Little’s office did not give additional details on the announcement, which will take place at 3 p.m. and be available to livestream on the Idaho Public Television website.
Idaho again set a record seven-day moving average on Sunday with a daily case rate of 889.14 over the last week. The state has consistently broken its record 12 days in a row amid a surge of new cases and record hospitalizations.
On Sunday, health officials reported 491 new confirmed COVID-19 cases and 124 probable cases. Ada County reported the most new cases Sunday with 101. Since March, there have been 14,429 in Ada County alone. The Boise School District reported one new COVID-19 case, this one at Shadow Hills Elementary. Since Oct. 20, the district has confirmed eight cases in seven schools.
Several other counties reported double-digit new cases on Sunday: Bonneville (24 new, 3,470 total), Canyon (42 new, 9,102 total), Cassia (17 new, 1,228 total), Gooding (11 new, 438 total), Jefferson (11 new, 780 total), Jerome (15 new, 920 total), Kootenai (49 new, 3,759 total), Lincoln (20 new, 157 total), Madison (77 new, 2,188 total), Minidoka (17 new, 1,067 total) and Twin Falls (63 new, 3,410 total).
The following counties also reported new cases on Sunday: Bannock (2 new, 1,672 total), Bear Lake (4 new, 66 total), Blaine (2 new, 820 total), Boise (1 new, 61 total), Bonner (5 new, 427 total), Boundary (1 new, 67 total), Custer (1 new, 84 total), Elmore (4 new, 374 total), Fremont (4 new, 430 total), Gem (7 new, 365 total), Owyhee (1 new, 353 total), Payette (1 new, 967 total), Power (3 new, 308 total), Shoshone (3 new, 258 total), Teton (4 new, 256 total) and Washington (1 new, 402 total).
No new deaths were reported Sunday. To date, 569 Idahoans have died from COVID-19.
Idaho has reported 7,082 probable and 52,342 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare estimates that 28,056 have recovered from the virus.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 2,431 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 535 admissions to the ICU and 3,687 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. 24, the health system was reporting 78 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 431 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 13%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Oct. 24, the health system was reporting 39 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 325 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 10.71%.
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 (1), Boise Online School (2), Fairmont Junior High (1), Roosevelt Elementary (1), Shadow Hills Elementary (1), Timberline High School (1) and Whittier Elementary (1).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Friday, Health and Welfare reported that 370,741 people had been tested statewide. About 14% 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 14,429, Adams 46, Bannock 1,672, Bear Lake 66, Benewah 167, Bingham 1,233, Blaine 820, Boise 61, Bonner 427, Bonneville 3,470, Boundary 67, Butte 81, Camas 34, Canyon 9,102, Caribou 199, Cassia 1,228, Clark 33, Clearwater 114, Custer 84, Elmore 374, Franklin 287, Fremont 430, Gem 365, Gooding 438, Idaho 324, Jefferson 780, Jerome 920, Kootenai 3,759, Latah 858, Lemhi 177, Lewis 72, Lincoln 157, Madison 2,188, Minidoka 1,067, Nez Perce 708, Oneida 45, Owyhee 353, Payette 967, Power 308, Shoshone 258, Teton 256, Twin Falls 3,410, Valley 106, Washington 402.
