This article was originally published by Rachel Roberts in the Idaho Statesman.
Idaho’s seven-day moving average of confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 increased for the seventh day in a row on Tuesday.
The state’s seven public health districts reported a combined 321 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 82 probables cases for a total of 403 cases. It marks the third weekday in a row that Idaho’s daily caseload has been above 400 cases. There were 460 cases added Monday and 426 last Friday.
On Sept. 9, the Gem State’s seven-day moving average dropped to 233.9, which is the lowest it had been since June 29. However, that average has been on the upswing once again, reaching 330.7 cases per day as of Tuesday.
Five new deaths from COVID-19 were announced in Ada (2 new, 147 total), Bonneville (1 new, 16 total), Canyon (1 new, 100 total) and Payette (1 new, 7 total) counties. Idaho has lost 452 residents to the virus with a case fatality rate of about 1.17%.
The death in Bonneville County was a female in her 60s, according to Eastern Idaho Public Health. According to updated demographics from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare for three of the other deaths, one individual was in their 60s and two were 80 or older.
Southwest District Health added the most cases of any health district on Tuesday with 75 new confirmed cases. Canyon County led the way with 35 cases for a total of 7,490, and Gem (14 new, 263 total) and Payette (20 new, 739 total) counties also saw their caseloads increase by double figures.
Nine other counties saw double-digit increases — Ada (29 new, 11,423 total), Madison (28 new, 437 total), Bonneville (26 new, 2,055 total), Bingham (23 new, 839 total), Bannock (19 new, 913 total), Kootenai (13 new, 2,492 total), Nez Perce (11 new, 383 total), Twin Falls (10 new, 1,874 total) and Franklin (10 new, 96 total).
The other counties adding new confirmed cases were Bear Lake (2 new, 46 total), Bonner (4 new, 283 total), Caribou (4 new, 89 total), Cassia (6 new, 587 total), Clark (1 new, 27 total), Clearwater (4 new, 36 total), Elmore (4 new, 260 total), Fremont (6 new, 152 total), Gooding (2 new, 225 total), Idaho (6 new, 181 total), Jefferson (6 new, 416 total), Jerome (3 new, 641 total), Latah (9 new, 323 total), Lemhi (3 new, 61 total), Lewis (2 new, 13 total), Minidoka (7 new, 592 total), Owyhee (1 new, 294 total), Power (7 new, 219 total), Shoshone (1 new, 212 total), Teton (2 new, 130 total) and Washington (5 new, 320 total).
Eastern Idaho Public Health removed two cases from Custer County (48 total). Cases are sometimes removed when an investigation determines a resident’s permanent address is in another county or state.
Since the start of the pandemic, 35,247 Idahoans have tested positive for the coronavirus. Health and Welfare reported 3,242 “probable” cases (82 new). IDHW estimates that of those infected, 20,674 people are presumed recovered.
BOISE SCHOOL DISTRICT SHARES NEW CASES
The Boise School District updated its COVID-19 information to reflect two new confirmed cases of the virus at Borah High and one new case at Hawthorne Elementary on Tuesday.
There also is a probable case at North Junior High.
The school district previously reported 17 cases (15 confirmed, 2 probable) for Aug. 17-Sept. 21 and 25 cases (23 confirmed, 2 probable) for June 22-Aug. 16.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 1,740 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 447 admissions to the ICU and 2,605 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 Sept. 21, the health system was reporting 28 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 459 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 6%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Sept. 21, the health system was reporting 18 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 334 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 8.2%.
Boise School District: The district saysthe following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Sept. 22: Borah High School (2 cases) and Hawthorne Elementary (1).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Tuesday, Health and Welfare reported that 292,159 people had been tested statewide. About 12.1% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Counties with community spread: All counties except Adams, Butte and Franklin have been announced to have community spread.
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 11,423, Adams 27, Bannock 913, Bear Lake 46, Benewah 137, Bingham 839, Blaine 612, Boise 52, Bonner 283, Bonneville 2,055, Boundary 47, Butte 27, Camas 17, Canyon 7,490, Caribou 89, Cassia 587, Clark 27, Clearwater 36, Custer 48, Elmore 260, Franklin 96, Fremont 152, Gem 263, Gooding 225, Idaho 181, Jefferson 416, Jerome 641, Kootenai 2,492, Latah 323, Lemhi 61, Lewis 13, Lincoln 68, Madison 437, Minidoka 592, Nez Perce 383, Oneida 20, Owyhee 294, Payette 739, Power 219, Shoshone 212, Teton 130, Twin Falls 1,874, Valley 81, Washington 320.
