This article was originally published by Rachel Roberts and Nicole Foy in the Idaho Statesman.
Idaho’s state health department reported just 240 new coronavirus cases Friday, a total that includes both confirmed and probable cases.
Because of a Central District Health misclassification in Ada County’s case count, which the Idaho Statesman had been using, we are altering the way we do daily coronavirus updates. Starting today and moving forward, we will be using total case numbers (confirmed and probable combined) from the Department of Health and Welfare for each county.
The number of new cases in Treasure Valley counties remained relatively low, with Ada reporting 49 combined cases (47,202 total) and Canyon just 32 (24,870 total).
Other counties reporting new confirmed and probable cases Friday included: Bannock (12 new, 7,955 total), Bear Lake (5 new, 359 total), Bingham (11 new, 4,307 total), Blaine (4 new, 2,188 total), Bonneville (44 new, 12,427 total), Caribou (1 new, 630 total), Cassia (1 new, 2,868 total), Clark (1 new, 54 total), Clearwater (2 new, 1,004 total), Elmore (1 new, 1,626 total), Franklin (1 new, 1,081 total), Fremont (5 new, 1,031 total), Gem (1 new, 1,702 total), Gooding (1 new, 1,270 total), Jefferson (12 new, 2,494 total), Jerome (2 new, 2,513 total), Kootenai (5 new, 16,764 total), Latah (13 new, 2,799 total), Madison (21 new, 6,427 total), Minidoka (3 new, 2,287 total), Nez Perce (2 new, 3,371 total), Power (1 new, 629 total), Teton (7 new, 1100 total), Twin Falls (1 new, 9,029 total), Valley (1 new, 800 total), Washington (1 new, 1,177 total).
A total of 172,826 people have tested positive or probable for the coronavirus since the pandemic reached Idaho.
The state did not report any new deaths Friday. Hospitalizations increased only slightly over last week’s numbers, with the state recording 150 people hospitalized with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 on Wednesday, and 33 patients in the ICU with COVID-19.
IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY, ALBERTSONS PARTNER ON MERIDIAN VACCINATION CLINIC
Idaho State University and Albertsons are partnering on a new mass COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Meridian, according to a report from Idaho News 6.
Friday was the first day for the clinic at ISU’s Sam and Aline Skaggs Health Science Center. It will be open a total of six Fridays in a row, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., through April 9. ISU faculty, student pharmacists and other health professional volunteers will staff the clinic, which will have 400 Pfizer doses each Friday.
Appointments for the clinic are required and walk-ins will not be accepted. Appointments can be scheduled online, the Idaho News 6 report said, and all recipients must provide proof they live in Idaho and are at least 16 years old.
“As the state’s leader in the health sciences, we are proud to collaborate with others in our community to provide this critical service,” said ISU President Kevin Satterlee. “Our collaboration brings together trained professionals and dedicated volunteers, in an ideal location, to vaccinate our community. We are proud to join this collaborative effort in the Treasure Valley that will greatly enhance the health, safety, and well-being of Idahoans.”
LONG-TERM CARE UPDATE
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare released its weekly update on COVID-19 in care facilities Friday.
Outbreaks at Idaho facilities remained steady, at 315 overall, while total individual cases grew by 90 (9,144 total) and deaths rose by three, to 765.
Active cases decreased to 4,022 at 97 facilities — down from 4,546 at 114 facilities last week. There are 218 facilities with resolved outbreaks.
Below is a list of long-term care facilities by city that have active cases of the coronavirus:
American Falls: Edgewood Spring Creek American Falls; Bellevue: Cove of Cascadia; Boise: Terraces of Boise, Edgewood Spring Creek-Overland, Garden Plaza of Valley View-Valley View Nursing & Rehab, Garden Plaza of Valley View-The Bridge at Valley View, Willow Park Senior Living, Arbor Village at Hillcrest, State Veterans Home-Boise, MorningStar Senior Living of Boise, Edgewood Spring Creek Memory Care-Five Mile, Edgewood Plantation Place, Ashley Manor-Cloverdale, Grace Assisted Living at Englefield Green, Ashley Manor-Cory Lane (formerly AarenBrooke Place), Life Care of Treasure Valley, Avamere Transitional Care, Riverview Rehabilitation, Boise Group Home No. 2 Molly Court, Park Place Assisted Living of Boise, Ashley Manor-Harmony, Good Samaritan Society-Boise Village, Grace Memory Care, MorningStar Memory Care at Englefield Green, Ashley Manor-Elgin Way, Brookdale Boise Parkcenter, Regency Columbia Village, Independent Living Services Milclay;
Bonners Ferry: Boundary County Nursing Home; Chubbuck: Brookdale Chubbuck, Grace at Chubbuck; Coeur d’Alene: Advanced Health Care of Coeur d’Alene, Life Care Center of Coeur d’Alene, Coeur d’Alene Health and Rehab of Cascadia, Rose Terrace Cottages, Legends Park Assisted Living, Garden at Orchard Ridge, Bristol Heights Assisted Living, Brookdale Coeur d’Alene, Lodge at Fairway Forest, Ivy Court, Renaissance at Coeur d’Alene, LaCrosse Health & Rehab, Creekside Inn Assisted Living; Eagle: Edgewood Spring Creek Eagle Island, Paramount Parks; Garden City: Emerson House at Riverpointe; Glenns Ferry: Poplar Grove Assisted Living; Hayden: Wellspring Meadows;
Idaho Falls: Life Care Center of Idaho Falls, Yellowstone Group Home No. 1, Parkwood Meadows; Jerome: Desano Place Assisted Living, Creekside Care Center; Kootenai: Hearthstone Village; Kuna: Swan Falls Assisted Living; Lewiston: Wedgewood Terrace; McCall: McCall Rehab and Care Center; Meridian: Creekside Transitional Care, Touchmark at Meadow Lake Village, Meridian Meadows, Alpine Meadows Assisted Living, Harmony Hills, Tomorrow’s Hope-Deb, Aspen Transitional Rehab, Aspire-Elk Run, Veranda Senior Living-Paramount; Middleton: Cottages of Middleton; Mountain Home: Country Living Retirement of Mountain Home, Cottages of Mountain Home; Nampa: Meadow View Nursing & Rehab, Orchards of Cascadia, Wellspring of Cascadia, Heron Place, Aspire-Sunset Oaks;
Orofino: Brookside Landing; Pocatello: Copper Summit Assisted Living, Gateway Transitional Care Center; Post Falls: Life Care of Post Falls, The Bridge at Post Falls, Guardian Angel Homes; Rathdrum: Generations Assisted Living; Rexburg: Homestead Assisted Living Rexburg; Rigby: Rigby Country Living Center; Rupert: Countryside Care and Rehab; Sandpoint: Life Care Center of Sandpoint, Valley Vista Care-Sandpoint, Huckleberry Retirement Homes II, Lakeside Assisted Living; Silverton: Good Samaritan Society-Silver Wood Village; St. Anthony: Homestead Assisted Living-St. Anthony; St. Maries: Valley Vista Care-St. Maries; Twin Falls: Serenity Transitional Care, Grace Assisted Living-Twin Falls, The Canyons Retirement Community, Brookdale Twin Falls, Bridgeview Estates-Assisted Living, Bridgeview Estates-Skilled Nursing; Weiser: Cottages of Weiser.
DAILY DETAILS
Vaccine doses administered in Idaho: 421,337, according to Health and Welfare. Of those, 149,653 people have been fully vaccinated.
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 7,179 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 1,245 admissions to the ICU and 9,697 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 March 4, the health system was reporting 14 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 426 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 4%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of March 4, the health system was reporting 28 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 353 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 8.6%.
Boise School District: Reported confirmed cases since March 2: Borah High (3), Morley Nelson Elementary (1).
West Ada School District: Reported confirmed cases for Feb. 19-March 4: Eagle High (6), Mountain View High (1), Rocky Mountain High (1), Heritage Middle (1), Barbara Morgan STEM Academy (1), Christine Donnell School of the Arts (1), Discovery Elementary (1), Peregrine Elementary (3), River Valley Elementary (1).
Total COVID-19 cases by county (confirmed + probable): Ada 47,202, Adams 330, Bannock 7,955, Bear Lake 359, Benewah 626, Bingham 4,307, Blaine 2,188, Boise 309, Bonner 3,002, Bonneville 12,427, Boundary 823, Butte 200, Camas 70, Canyon 24,870, Caribou 630, Cassia 2,868, Clark 54, Clearwater 1,004, Custer 233, Elmore 1,626, Franklin 1,081, Fremont 1,031, Gem 1,702, Gooding 1,270, Idaho 1,164, Jefferson 2,494, Jerome 2,513, Kootenai 16,764, Latah 2,799, Lemhi 501, Lewis 379, Lincoln 486, Madison 6,427, Minidoka 2,287, Nez Perce 3,371, Oneida 330, Owyhee 1,015, Payette 2,382, Power 629, Shoshone 1,012, Teton 1,100, Twin Falls 9,029, Valley 800, Washington 1,177.
