This article was originally written by Chad Cripe for the Idaho Statesman.
Ada and Kootenai counties continued to account for a large percentage of Idaho’s new COVID-19 cases Saturday.
Ada County added 262 new confirmed coronavirus cases (29,593 total), according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s daily data update. Kootenai County added 91 (10,036 total).
The homes of Boise and Coeur d’Alene accounted for roughly half of the state’s 704 new confirmed cases. Idaho also added 29 new probable cases Saturday for a total of 733 new cases. The state’s seven-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases has dropped for nine consecutive days to 1,208.3.
There were no new deaths reported Saturday. One previously reported death in Cassia County was removed from the state’s death toll by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. Idaho has lost 1,280 residents in connection with the virus since the start of the pandemic with a case fatality rate of 0.99%.
Ada County’s daily case total is a combination of recently reported priority cases and older, backlogged cases — leaving it unclear what Ada’s current caseload is. Earlier in the week, Central District Health said it was more than 10 days behind because of the high number of cases reported.
The other counties adding new confirmed cases Saturday were: Bannock (61 new, 3,568 total), Bear Lake (2 new, 180 total), Benewah (8 new, 322 total), Bingham (15 new, 2,179 total), Blaine (13 new, 1,413 total), Boise (2 new, 171 total), Bonner (27 new, 1,376 total), Bonneville (55 new, 7,238 total), Boundary (2 new, 225 total), Butte (1 new, 121 total), Canyon (66 new, 16,868 total), Cassia (7 new, 2,181 total), Clearwater (1 new, 597 total), Custer (minus-2 new, 154 total), Elmore (9 new, 909 total), Franklin (8 new, 672 total), Fremont (minus-5 new, 752 total), Gem (1 new, 1,030 total), Gooding (5 new, 817 total), Jefferson (24 new, 1,489 total), Jerome (5 new, 1,730 total), Latah (1 new, 1,939 total), Lemhi (minus-1 new, 384 total), Madison (minus-5 new, 4,473 total), Minidoka (8 new, 1,704 total), Nez Perce (2 new, 2,633 total), Oneida (1 new, 169 total), Payette (2 new, 1,606 total), Power (1 new, 413 total), Shoshone (8 new, 709 total), Teton (3 new, 458 total), Twin Falls (25 new, 6,157 total), Washington (1 new, 719 total).
Idaho has seen 107,877 confirmed cases overall, plus 21,280 probable cases. Health and Welfare estimates that 50,324 of those cases have recovered.
DAILY DETAILS
Vaccine doses administered in Idaho: 2,306, according to Health and Welfare.
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 5,121 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 932 admissions to the ICU and 6,273 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. 18, the health system was reporting 114 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 479 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 15%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Dec. 18, the health system was reporting 100 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 424 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 24.9%.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Dec. 15: Adams Elementary (1), Boise High (2), District Services (1), Frank Church High School (1), Hawthorne Elementary (1), Liberty Elementary (1), Longfellow Elementary (1), Maple Grove Elementary (1), Trail Wind Elementary (1), Whitney Elementary (1), Whittier Elementary (1).
West Ada School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff for Dec. 6-19: Centennial High (2), Eagle Academy (1), Eagle High (9), Idaho Fine Arts (1), Meridian High (10), Mountain View High (5), Renaissance High (1), Rocky Mountain High (10), Virtual School House-High (1), Crossroads Middle (1), Eagle Middle (1), Heritage Middle (4), Lake Hazel Middle (2), Lewis and Clark Middle (1), Lowell Scott Middle (1), Sawtooth Middle (3), Star Middle (1), Victory Middle (2), Barbara Morgan STEM (2), Andrus Elementary (1), Chaparral Elementary (1), Chief Joseph School of the Arts (1), Christine Donnell (2), Discovery Elementary (1), Eagle Hills Elementary (3), Hunter Elementary (1), Joplin Elementary (2), Mary McPherson Elementary (1), McMillan Elementary (4), Meridian Elementary (1), Peregrine Elementary (3), Ponderosa Elementary (2), Siena Elementary (1), Star Elementary (2), Willow Creek Elementary (3).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Saturday, Health and Welfare reported that 524,916 people had been tested statewide. About 20.6% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 29,593, Adams 137, Bannock 3,568, Bear Lake 180, Benewah 322, Bingham 2,179, Blaine 1,413, Boise 171, Bonner 1,376, Bonneville 7,238, Boundary 225, Butte 121, Camas 42, Canyon 16,868, Caribou 271, Cassia 2,181, Clark 44, Clearwater 597, Custer 154, Elmore 909, Franklin 672, Fremont 752, Gem 1,030, Gooding 817, Idaho 782, Jefferson 1,489, Jerome 1,730, Kootenai 10,036, Latah 1,939, Lemhi 384, Lewis 241, Lincoln 333, Madison 4,473, Minidoka 1,704, Nez Perce 2,633, Oneida 169, Owyhee 749, Payette 1,606, Power 413, Shoshone 709, Teton 458, Twin Falls 6,157, Valley 293, Washington 719.
