This article was originally published by Rachel Roberts in the Idaho Statesman.
Idaho’s seven-day moving average of new cases of COVID-19 stayed below 500 for the third consecutive day Wednesday.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and the state’s seven public health districts reported a combined 386 new confirmed cases and 114 new probable cases for 500 total on Wednesday. The seven-day average dropped to 436.7 cases per day, which is its lowest rate since late September.
Since the peak of 1,650.3 cases per day on Dec. 10, the seven-day average has decreased nearly 74%.
With six new coronavirus-related deaths added Wednesday, Idaho has now lost 1,750 residents to the virus. The case fatality rate is about 1.07%. The new deaths were reported in Ada (414 total), Bonner (29 total), Franklin (13 total), Payette (29 total), Shoshone (31 total) and Valley (5 total) counties.
Ada (77 new, 38,246 total) and Canyon (53 new, 20,291 total) counties saw the largest number of confirmed cases across the state, and 13 of the 33 counties that added cases Wednesday experienced double-digit increases: Madison (37 new, 5,197 total), Kootenai (29 new, 14,104 total), Bonneville (23 new, 8,470 total), Bonner (21 new, 2,254 total), Jerome (21 new, 1,931 total), Valley (16 new, 612 total), Blaine (13 new, 1,821 total), Bannock (12 new, 4,439 total), Latah (12 new, 2,413 total), Twin Falls (12 new, 6,855 total) and Elmore (10 new, 1,187 total) counties.
The other counties adding confirmed cases were Bear Lake (1 new, 239 total), Bingham (6 new, 2,487 total), Boise (3 new, 224 total), Boundary (1 new, 351 total), Caribou (1 new, 327 total), Cassia (3 new, 2,395 total), Clearwater (1 new, 743 total), Fremont (3 new, 850 total), Gem (1 new, 1,295 total), Gooding (2 new, 896 total), Idaho (1 new, 872 total), Jefferson (6 new, 1,699 total), Lewis (1 new, 275 total), Minidoka (2 new, 1,876 total), Nez Perce (3 new, 3,016 total), Owyhee (4 new, 854 total), Payette (3 new, 1,853 total), Power (1 new, 444 total), Shoshone (1 new, 911 total) and Teton (7 new, 595 total).
Health and Welfare removed one case from Lemhi County (394 total). Cases are sometimes removed when an investigation determines that an individual’s permanent residence is in another county, health district or state.
Since the pandemic reached Idaho, there have been 133,720 confirmed cases reported, plus 30,532 probable cases. Health and Welfare estimates that 84,159 of those cases have recovered from the virus.
DAILY DETAILS
Vaccine doses administered in Idaho: 139,695, according to Health and Welfare. Of those, 87,135 people have received only their first dose.
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 6,749 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 1,181 admissions to the ICU and 8,910 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 Feb. 2, the health system was reporting 38 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 493 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 8%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Feb. 2, the health system was reporting 47 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 343 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 13.4%.
Testing totals: At the end of the day Wednesday, Health and Welfare reported that 608,896 people had been tested statewide. Nearly 22% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Boise School District: Reported positive cases since Feb. 2: Boise High (1), Capital High (2), Fairmont Junior High (1), Horizon Elementary (1), Les Bois Junior High (1), Liberty Elementary (1), Trail Wind Elementary (3).
West Ada School District: Reported cases from Jan. 21-Feb. 3: Centennial High (2), Eagle High (5), Meridian High (1), Mountain View High (3), Rocky Mountain High (1), Eagle Middle (1), Heritage Middle (2), Lake Hazel Middle (2), Lowell Scott Middle (1), Sawtooth Middle (1), Star Middle (1), Barbara Morgan STEM Academy (1), Desert Sage Elementary (2), Discovery Elementary (1), Hunter Elementary (1), Pioneer School of the Arts (4), Seven Oaks Elementary (1), Siena Elementary (1), Silver Sage Elementary (1), Summerwind STEM (1).
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 38,246, Adams 243, Bannock 4,439, Bear Lake 239, Benewah 415, Bingham 2,487, Blaine 1,821, Boise 224, Bonner 2,254, Bonneville 8,470, Boundary 351, Butte 149, Camas 50, Canyon 20,291, Caribou 327, Cassia 2,395, Clark 44, Clearwater 743, Custer 175, Elmore 1,187, Franklin 814, Fremont 850, Gem 1,295, Gooding 896, Idaho 872, Jefferson 1,699, Jerome 1,931, Kootenai 14,104, Latah 2,413, Lemhi 394, Lewis 275, Lincoln 367, Madison 5,197, Minidoka 1,876, Nez Perce 3,016, Oneida 209, Owyhee 854, Payette 1,853, Power 444, Shoshone 911, Teton 595, Twin Falls 6,855, Valley 612, Washington 838.
