This article was originally published by Nicole Blanchard of the Idaho Statesman.
For the seventh day in a row, Idaho set a new seven-day moving average record for coronavirus cases as health officials reported six new deaths and more than 600 new cases Sunday.
Idaho’s seven-day moving average hit a peak of 1,129.8 on Sunday, meaning the state had reported nearly 1,130 new cases of COVID-19 each day for the last week. The seven-day moving average record was broken each day over the last week as cases surged. On Sunday, officials reported 633 new cases.
In Ada County on Sunday, officials reported 265 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily case number since July 18, when 345 cases were reported. The county averaged 209 new cases each day over the last week. Since March, Ada County has had 16,784 COVID-19 cases.
Several other counties reported significant increases in cases Sunday: Bonneville (68 new, 4,159 total), Canyon (72 new, 10,368 total), Kootenai (53 new, 4,743 total), Madison (33 new, 2,691 total) and Twin Falls (38 new, 4,381 total).
The following other counties added COVID-19 cases Sunday: Bear Lake (1 new, 102 total), Benewah (2 new, 198 total), Blaine (2 new, 936 total), Boise (2 new, 83 total), Bonner (10 new, 532 total), Boundary (1 new, 109 total), Cassia (7 new, 1,509 total), Elmore (18 new, 471 total), Fremont (4 new, 510 total), Gem (1 new, 428 total), Gooding (2 new, 557 total), Jefferson (19 new, 910 total), Jerome (2 new, 1,210 total), Lemhi (3 new, 313 total), Lincoln (2 new, 236 total), Minidoka (3 new, 1,246 total), Owyhee (6 new, 401 total), Payette (3 new, 1,073 total), Shoshone (1 new, 310 total), Teton (9 new, 324 total), Valley (3 new, 143 total) and Washington (3 new, 466 total).
Eastern Idaho Public Health and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reported six new COVID-19 deaths Sunday. Two Bonneville County men died — one in his 80s, the other in his 70s — bringing the county’s total deaths to 43. A Fremont County woman in her 70s also died. She is the sixth Fremont County resident to die of COVID-19. Health and Welfare data also showed two new deaths in Ada County (193 total) and one in Canyon County (120 total). No additional details were given on those deaths.
Since the pandemic began, 691 Idahoans have died of COVID-19.
Idaho hospitals this week warned that they’re starting to approach capacity as the number of COVID-19 patients increases. This weekend, St. Luke’s Magic Valley hospital in Twin Falls had to temporarily divert patients to other hospitals. It’s the second weekend in a row that the hospital has had to take that measure.
Idaho has seen 62,915 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, plus 10,196 total probable cases. Health and Welfare estimates 32,702 of those cases have recovered.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 2,889 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 580 admissions to the ICU and 4,236 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 Nov. 7, the health system was reporting 96 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 456 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 19%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Nov. 7, the health system was reporting 66 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 301 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 19.1%.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Nov. 3: Amity Elementary (2), Boise High (6), Borah High, (1) Capital High (1), Cynthia Mann Elementary (1), District Services Center (1), Hawthorne Elementary (3), Hillside Junior High (2), Longfellow Elementary (1), Lowell Elementary (2), Morley Nelson Elementary (1), North Junior High (6), Riverglen Junior High (1), Riverside Elementary (2), Shadow Hills Elementary (1), South Junior High (2), Timberline High (3), West Junior High (1), White Pine Elementary (1), Whittier Elementary (6).
West Ada School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff for the weeks of Oct. 18-31: Centennial High (2), Eagle High (6), Meridian High (13), Mountain View High (7), Renaissance High (1), Rocky Mountain High (4), Eagle Middle (2), Heritage Middle (1), Lake Hazel Middle (2), Lewis and Clark Middle (5), Lowell Scott Middle (3), Meridian Middle (1), Sawtooth Middle (2), Star Middle (1), Victory Middle (1), Cecil D. Andrus Elementary (2), Chief Joseph School of the Arts (2), Discovery Elementary (1), Eagle Hills Elementary (1), Eliza Hart Spalding Stem Academy (1), Galileo STEM Academy (1), Hillsdale Elementary (1), McMillan Elementary (3), Meridian Elementary (2), Paramount Elementary (1), Peregrine Elementary (1), Pioneer School of the Arts (1), River Valley Elementary (3).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Saturday, Health and Welfare reported that 408,308 people had been tested statewide. About 15.4% 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 16,519, Adams 68, Bannock 2,071, Bear Lake 101, Benewah 196, Bingham 1,389, Blaine 934, Boise 81, Bonner 522, Bonneville 4,091, Boundary 108, Butte 97, Camas 38, Canyon 10,296, Caribou 247, Cassia 1,502, Clark 36, Clearwater 166, Custer 92, Elmore 453, Franklin 352, Fremont 506, Gem 427, Gooding 555, Idaho 430, Jefferson 891, Jerome 1,208, Kootenai 4,690, Latah 1,068, Lemhi 310, Lewis 106, Lincoln 234, Madison 2,658, Minidoka 1,243, Nez Perce 1,155, Oneida 76, Owyhee 395, Payette 1,070, Power 331, Shoshone 309, Teton 315, Twin Falls 4,343, Valley 140, Washington 463.
