This article was originally published by Rachel Roberts in the Idaho Statesman.
Dec. 2, 2020, will be remembered as a particularly sad day in Idaho’s fight against the coronavirus.
The Gem State added a single-day record 35 new deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, pushing Idaho’s total deaths since the start of the pandemic to 1,001. The previous record was 31 deaths reported on Nov. 17.
Idaho’s case fatality rate is about 0.95%. As of Nov. 1, there had been 629 coronavirus-related deaths reported statewide, which means the death toll has increased by 59.1% in a little more than a month.
Of the 35 new deaths added Wednesday, multiple deaths were reported in Ada (7 new, 252 total), Bingham (2 new, 31 total), Bonneville (5 new, 74 total), Canyon (4 new, 146 total), Idaho (3 new, 12 total), Kootenai (3 new, 86 total), Owyhee (4 new, 9 total) and Twin Falls (3 new, 97 total) counties. Bannock (34 total), Bonner (6 total), Nez Perce (37 total) and Shoshone (23 total) counties each gained one death.
Those deaths were publicly reported by health officials Wednesday, a process that often takes several days after a death occurs. The Idaho Statesman counts deaths based on information from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and the seven public health districts. Some of the deaths reported by districts haven’t yet been added to IDHW’s total.
The state’s seven public health districts announced a combined 1,057 new confirmed cases and 423 new probable cases for a total of 1,480 new cases on Wednesday.
The largest increases came in Ada (293 new, 23,130 total), Canyon (151 new, 14,361 total), Kootenai (118 new, 7,074 total), Bonneville (82 new, 6,009 total), Twin Falls (56 new, 5,724 total), Bannock (55 new, 2,836 total), Madison (44 new, 3,888 total) and Nez Perce (39 new, 2,206 total) counties.
The other counties adding new confirmed cases were Adams (2 new, 97 total), Bear Lake (2 new, 159 total), Benewah (2 new, 274 total), Bingham (23 new, 1,887 total), Blaine (21 new, 1,229 total), Boise (3 new, 116 total), Bonner (17 new, 895 total), Boundary (5 new, 168 total), Butte (2 new, 107 total), Cassia (2 new, 1,987 total), Clearwater (3 new, 487 total), Custer (3 new, 136 total), Elmore (16 new, 693 total), Franklin (3 new, 562 total), Fremont (4 new, 680 total), Gem (7 new, 812 total), Gooding (11 new, 717 total), Idaho (6 new, 706 total), Jefferson (11 new, 1,247 total), Jerome (18 new, 1,601 total), Latah (16 new, 1,660 total), Lewis (2 new, 189 total), Lincoln (5 new, 295 total), Oneida (1 new, 117 total), Owyhee (7 new, 648 total), Payette (12 new, 1,422 total), Power (2 new, 376 total), Shoshone (4 new, 509 total), Teton (1 new, 427 total), Valley (7 new, 214 total) and Washington (2 new, 654 total).
One case was removed from Minidoka County (1,593 total). Cases are sometimes removed when an investigation determines an individual’s permanent residence is in another county, health district or state.
Since the pandemic reached Idaho, a total of 88,613 confirmed cases of the coronavirus have been reported statewide. Health and Welfare has also added 16,309 probable cases and estimates that 41,838 people have recovered from the virus.
As of Monday, there were 466 people hospitalized statewide with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, including 108 in intensive care.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 4,200 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 780 admissions to the ICU and 5,174 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 Dec. 1, the health system was reporting 143 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 506 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 21%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Dec. 1, the health system was reporting 96 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 304 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 27.5%.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Nov. 17: Adams Elementary (2), Amity Elementary (2), Boise High (7), Borah High (6), Capital High (4), Collister Elementary (2), District Services (7), Fairmont Junior High (4), Frank Church High (1), Grace Jordan Elementary (2), Hidden Springs Elementary (2), Highlands Elementary (2), Hillcrest Elementary (5), Hillside Junior High (2), Les Bois Junior High (6), Liberty Elementary (3), Longfellow Elementary (1), Lowell Elementary (1), Madison Early Childhood Education Center (1), Maple Grove Elementary (1), Morley Nelson Elementary (2), North Junior High (1), Riverglen Junior High (3), Riverside Elementary (4), Roosevelt Elementary (3), Shadow Hills (1), South Junior High (3), Taft Elementary (2), Timberline High (5), Trail Wind Elementary (1), Valley View Elementary (1), Washington Elementary (2), Whitney Elementary (1), Whittier Elementary (4).
West Ada School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff for Nov. 17-Dec. 1: Centennial High (11), Eagle Academy (3), Eagle High (11), Idaho Fine Arts (1), Meridian Academy (1), Meridian High (15), Mountain View High (29), Renaissance High (11), Rocky Mountain High (17), Virtual High School (1), Crossroads Middle (3), Eagle Middle (3), Heritage Middle (9), Lake Hazel Middle (7), Lewis and Clark Middle (6), Lowell Scott Middle (8), Meridian Middle (6), Sawtooth Middle (3), Star Middle (4), Victory Middle (8), Virtual Middle (1), Barbara Morgan STEM (3), Cecil D. Andrus Elementary (2), Chaparral Elementary (1), Chief Joseph School of the Arts (2), Christine Donnell (1), Desert Sage Elementary (4), Discovery Elementary (3), Eliza Hart Spalding STEM (2), Frontier Elementary (1), Galileo STEM Academy (1), Hillsdale Elementary (4), Hunter Elementary (3), Mary McPherson (4), Meridian Elementary (2), Paramount Elementary (1), Pepper Ridge Elementary (3), Pleasant View Elementary (2), Ponderosa Elementary (4), Prospect Elementary (3), River Valley Elementary (3), Siena Elementary (1), Silver Sage Elementary (2), Summerwind STEM Academy (1), Ustick Elementary (4), Willow Creek Elementary (1).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Wednesday, Health and Welfare reported that 480,700 people had been tested statewide. About 18.4% 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 23,130, Adams 97, Bannock 2,836, Bear Lake 159, Benewah 274, Bingham 1,887, Blaine 1,229, Boise 116, Bonner 895, Bonneville 6,009, Boundary 168, Butte 107, Camas 41, Canyon 14,361, Caribou 265, Cassia 1,987, Clark 40, Clearwater 487, Custer 136, Elmore 693, Franklin 562, Fremont 680, Gem 812, Gooding 717, Idaho 706, Jefferson 1,247, Jerome 1,601, Kootenai 7,074, Latah 1,660, Lemhi 375, Lewis 189, Lincoln 295, Madison 3,888, Minidoka 1,593, Nez Perce 2,206, Oneida 117, Owyhee 648, Payette 1,422, Power 376, Shoshone 509, Teton 427, Twin Falls 5,724, Valley 214, Washington 654.
