This article was originally published by Nicole Foy and Rachel Roberts in the Idaho Statesman.
Idaho again broke its record for total new coronavirus cases on Friday, with the state’s health districts reporting 888 confirmed and probable cases.
A total of 657 new confirmed cases brings the number of Idahoans who have tested positive for the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic to 46,394.
Eight more Idahoans died related to COVID-19, according to the state’s health districts, including two people in Canyon County, two in Caribou County, and one person each in Bannock, Bingham, Kootenai, and Twin Falls counties, bringing the total number of deaths to 529.
Ada County had 51 new confirmed coronavirus cases Friday, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, and Southwest District Health reported 70 new cases in Canyon County. (Central District Health did not post new coronavirus numbers for Ada, Boise, Elmore, and Valley counties by the time of publication).
Schools reported 94 new coronavirus cases among Idaho students and teachers in the past week, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s latest report released Friday. At 33 cases overall, North Star Charter in Eagle still has the highest number of coronavirus cases — although the state’s report didn’t list any new cases in the past week.
The report excludes online and virtual schools, as well as those with fewer than 50 students. Numbers reported by the state may be lower than the actual number of students and staff with confirmed coronavirus tests at each school.
Madison County reported the highest number of new cases, with 79 new confirmed cases Friday (1,603) total. Home to Rexburg and Brigham Young University-Idaho, the county has seen a surge in new cases in recent weeks. Schools in the region — particularly in Rexburg — are also seeing growing clusters of coronavirus cases. The state’s Friday report showed Madison Senior High has at least 12 cases, Madison Middle at least three cases and Madison Junior High has at least nine coronavirus cases among students and staff. The Madison School District’s coronavirus updates page reported 25 active coronavirus cases among students and staff as of Oct. 14.
There were also 62 new confirmed cases in Bonneville County (2,978 total), 57 confirmed cases in Twin Falls County (2,842 total), 30 confirmed cases in Minidoka County (911 total) and 43 confirmed cases in Kootenai County (3,158).
The other counties adding new confirmed cases Friday were: Adams (1 new, 30 total), Bannock (27 new, 1,448 total), Bear Lake (2 new, 58 total), Benewah (2 new, 161 total), Bingham (15 new, 1,132 total), Blaine (12 new, 762 total), Bonner (9 new, 386 total), Boundary (1 new, 56 total), Butte (4 new, 68 total), Caribou (3 new, 164 total), Cassia (23 new, 971 total), Clearwater (6 new, 103 total), Custer (2 new, 82 total), Franklin (6 new, 238 total), Fremont (15 new, 315 total), Gem (4 new, 332 total), Gooding (8 new, 353 total), Idaho (18 new, 277 total), Jefferson (12 new, 674 total), Jerome (8 new, 823 total), Latah (29 new, 781 total), Lemhi (6 new, 140 total), Lewis (3 new, 60 total), Lincoln (4 new, 106 total), Nez Perce (24 new, 568 total), Owyhee (1 new, 331 total), Payette (12 new, 915 total), Power (1 new, 292 total), Shoshone (2 new, 226 total), Teton (3 new, 230 total), Washington (2 new, 384 total).
Health and Welfare also reported 5,618 “probable” cases (231 new) of the coronavirus and estimated that 25,457 people in Idaho had recovered.
LONG-TERM CARE UPDATE
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare released its weekly update on COVID-19 in long-term care facilities Friday.
Outbreaks at Idaho facilities increased by four to 193 overall, total individual cases jumped by 108 to 3,095 cases, and deaths rose by seven to 290, with one new facility recording its first death.
Active cases increased to 1,812 at 90 facilities — up from 1,802 at 86 facilities last week. There are 103 facilities with resolved outbreaks.
Below is a list of long-term care facilities by city that have active cases of the coronavirus:
American Falls: Power County Nursing Home, Edgewood Spring Creek American Falls; Ammon: Promontory Point Rehabilitation; Ashton: Ashton Memorial Living Center; Bellevue: Cove of Cascadia; Blackfoot: Bingham Memorial Skilled Nursing; Boise: Terraces of Boise, Edgewood Spring Creek-Overland, Cascadia of Boise, Garden Plaza of Valley View-Valley View Nursing & Rehab, Garden Plaza of Valley View-The Bridge at Valley View, Overland Court Senior Living, Willow Park Senior Living, Arbor Village at Hillcrest, Arbor Valley of Cascadia, Life Care of Treasure Valley, Veranda Senior Living-Barber Station, Avamere Transitional Care, Park Place Assisted Living of Boise, Edgewood Castle Hills, Independent Living Services-Five Mile, Grace Assisted Living at State St., Shaw Mountain of Cascadia, State Veterans Home-Boise;
Bonneville: New Beginnings Community Living; Buhl: Desert View Care, River Rock Assisted Living; Burley: Mini Cassia Care Center, Parke View Rehab; Caldwell: Lenity Senior Living, Autumn Wind; Challis: Diamond Peak Health Care of Challis; Coeur d’Alene: Lacrosse Health & Rehab, Advanced Health Care of Coeur d’Alene, Life Care Center of Coeur d’Alene; Darlington: Antelope Creek Living Center; Downey: Whispering Pines Assisted Living; Eagle: Edgewood Spring Creek Eagle Island; Emmett: Apple Valley Residence, Cherry Ridge Center; Gooding: Desano Place Assisted Living; Idaho Falls: Tambree Meadows Assisted Living, Life Care Center of Idaho Falls, Yellowstone Group Home No. 1, Teton Post-Acute Care and Rehab, Fairwinds-Sand Creek, Good Samaritan-Idaho Falls Village;
Jerome: CommuniCare No. 8 Lincoln; Kimberly: Oak Creek; Lewiston: The Orchards; Meridian: Creekside Transitional Care, Touchmark at Meadow Lake Village, Edgewood Spring Creek Meridian, Golden Years Oak Crest, The Cottages-Meridian, Veranda Senior Living-Paramount, Grace Assisted Living-Fairview Lakes, Tomorrow’s Hope-Lavin; Nampa: Meadow View Nursing & Rehab, Streamside Assisted Living, Grace Assisted Living-Nampa, Karcher Estates, Sunny Ridge (Skilled Nursing), Cascadia of Nampa; Payette: Ashley Manor-Beverly Hills; Pocatello: Gateway Transitional Care Center, Brookdale Pocatello, Caring Hearts Assisted Living, Copper Summit Assisted Living, Quinn Meadows Rehab & Care Center, State Veterans Home-Pocatello, Independence Home;
Post Falls: Guardian Angel Homes; Preston: Franklin County Transitional Care, Heritage Senior Living; Rexburg: Madison Carriage Cove, Temple View Transitional Care; Rigby: Rigby Country Living Center; Rupert: Countryside Care and Rehab; Sandpoint: Life Care Center of Sandpoint; Soda Springs: Caribou Memorial Living Center; St. Anthony: Homestead Assisted Living-St. Anthony; Twin Falls: Grace Assisted Living-Twin Falls, Brookdale Twin Falls, Serenity Transitional Care, Bridgeview Estates, Chardonnay Assisted Living, Twin Falls Care; Weiser: Weiser Care of Cascadia, Communicare No. 6 Weiser; Winchester: Lakeside Assisted Living.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 2,174 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 495 admissions to the ICU and 3,349 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. 15, the health system was reporting 55 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 530 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 12%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Oct. 15, the health system was reporting 31 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 392 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 11.8%.
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), Cynthia Mann Elementary (3), district services (2), Frank Church High School (2), Hidden Springs Elementary (1), Hawthorne Elementary (1), Koelsch 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 Friday, Health and Welfare reported that 348,518 people had been tested statewide. About 13.3% 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 13,356, Adams 30, Bannock 1,448, Bear Lake 58, Benewah 161, Bingham 1,132, Blaine 762, Boise 59, Bonner 386, Bonneville 2,978, Boundary 56, Butte 68, Camas 31, Canyon 8,497, Caribou 164, Cassia 971, Clark 33, Clearwater 103, Custer 82, Elmore 326, Franklin 238, Fremont 315, Gem 332, Gooding 353, Idaho 277, Jefferson 674, Jerome 823, Kootenai 3,158, Latah 781, Lemhi 140, Lewis 60, Lincoln 106, Madison 1603, Minidoka 911, Nez Perce 568, Oneida 35, Owyhee 331, Payette 915, Power 292, Shoshone 226, Teton 230, Twin Falls 2,842, Valley 99, Washington 384.
