This article was originally published by Nicole Blanchard in the Idaho Statesman.
Idaho once again smashed its seven-day moving average record for coronavirus infections on Monday, pushing past 700 new cases per day over the last week as health officials reported three new deaths and record-high ICU hospitalizations associated with the virus.
The state has set a new seven-day moving average record every day for the last five days. On Monday, it hit an average of 722 per day over the last week, a leap from Sunday’s record of 680. The average was bolstered on Monday by 651 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, as well as 103 probable cases.
In addition, the state updated hospitalization data for Friday that reflected a record number of patients admitted to the ICU. Sixty-one COVID-19 patients were in intensive care units on Friday, up from 59 patients on Thursday. That number dipped to 54 patients on Saturday, the most recent data available.
Southeastern Idaho Public Health announced Monday that three district residents had died of COVID-19: a Bannock County woman in her 80s, a Bannock County man in his 70s and a Bingham County woman in her 60s. To date, 535 Idahoans have died of COVID-19, 11 of them in Bannock County and 16 in Bingham County.
This all comes amid a surge of new cases with hot spots emerging in the Magic Valley and Eastern Idaho. Madison County, home to Rexburg, reported the highest number of new cases on Monday. With 98 new cases, Madison County has seen 1,826 since the first COVID-19 case was diagnosed in Idaho in March. Nearby in Bonneville County, officials reported 54 new cases Monday. The county has reported 3,165 cases total.
In the Magic Valley, Twin Falls County added 63 new cases (2,970 total), while Minidoka added 19 (985 total) and Cassia County added 23 (1,078 total).
Ada County added 71 cases, bringing its tally to 13,579 cases. The Boise School District added three new cases to its spreadsheet of COVID-19 diagnoses. Capital High, Dennis Technical Education Center and Monroe Elementary each reported one case of COVID-19, the first reported at each school. Since Oct. 6, there have been 21 reported cases in the district. In the neighboring West Ada School District, officials canceled classes for the second day in a row as teachers held a “sick-out” to protest the district’s handling of coronavirus precautions.
Canyon County reported 59 new cases. To date, it has had 8,619 cases of COVID-19.
Thirty-one other Idaho counties reported confirmed COVID-19 cases on Monday: Bannock (44 new, 1,501 total), Benewah (1 new, 162 total), Bingham (27 new, 1,161 total), Blaine (4 new, 773 total), Bonner (5 new, 397 total), Boundary (1 new, 58 total), Butte (2 new, 70 total), Camas (1 new, 32 total), Caribou (8 new, 171 total), Clearwater (3 new, 107 total), Elmore (4 new, 339 total), Franklin (7 new, 253 total), Fremont (5 new, 330 total), Gem (4 new, 339 total), Gooding (11 new, 369 total), Idaho (4 new, 279 total), Jefferson (10 new, 709 total), Jerome (13 new, 851 total), Kootenai (30 new, 3,272 total), Latah (18 new, 800 total), Lemhi (14 new, 159 total), Lewis (7 new, 69 total), Lincoln (4 new, 111 total), Nez Perce (9 new, 582 total), Oneida (1 new, 36 total), Owyhee (1 new, 333 total), Payette (5 new, 933 total), Power (5 new, 295 total), Shoshone (6 new, 233 total), Teton (4 new, 234 total) and Washington (7 new, 391 total).
Officials subtracted one case from Bear Lake County, leaving it with a total of 58 cases.
There have been 47,934 confirmed cases reported since the start of the pandemic along with 6,020 probable cases. Health and Welfare estimates 26,238 people have recovered from the virus.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 2,231 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 506 admissions to the ICU and 3,415 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. 18, the health system was reporting 63 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 398 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 11%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Oct. 18, the health system was reporting 36 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 315 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 12.8%.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Oct. 6: Amity Elementary (1), Boise Online School (1), Capital High (1), Cynthia Mann Elementary (2), district services (2), Dennis Technical Education Center (1), Frank Church High School (2), Hawthorne Elementary (1), Hidden Springs Elementary (1), Koelsch Elementary (1), Monroe Elementary (1), North Junior High (1), Riverside Elementary (1), Roosevelt Elementary (1), Valley View Elementary (1), White Pine Elementary (2), Whitney Elementary (1).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Sunday, Health and Welfare reported that 355,382 people had been tested statewide. About 13.5% 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 13,579, Adams 30, Bannock 1,501, Bear Lake 58, Benewah 162, Bingham 1,161, Blaine 773, Boise 60, Bonner 397, Bonneville 3,165, Boundary 58, Butte 70, Camas 32, Canyon 8,619, Caribou 171, Cassia 1,078, Clark 33, Clearwater 107, Custer 83, Elmore 339, Franklin 253, Fremont 330, Gem 339, Gooding 369, Idaho 279, Jefferson 709, Jerome 851, Kootenai 3,272, Latah 800, Lemhi 159, Lewis 69, Lincoln 111, Madison 1,826, Minidoka 985, Nez Perce 582, Oneida 36, Owyhee 333, Payette 933, Power 295, Shoshone 233, Teton 234, Twin Falls 2,970, Valley 99, Washington 391.
