This article was originally written by Nicole Blanchard for the Idaho Statesman.
For the second day in a row, Ada County has set a record high seven-day moving average for new daily cases of COVID-19, according to state health data.
During the past week, Ada County has added, on average, 321 coronavirus cases each day. On Friday, the seven-day moving average broke 300 new daily cases for the first time, but the average continued to climb Saturday.
Ada County’s record comes as Idaho reported another 1,137 cases of COVID-19 statewide. According to state and local health officials, 915 of those are confirmed while 222 are probable cases.
Ada County alone added 307 cases Saturday, bringing its total to 24,226. Canyon and Kootenai counties also recorded triple-digit new cases — 95 and 101, respectively. To date, Canyon County has had 14,815 COVID-19 cases while Kootenai County, home to Coeur d’Alene, has had 7,608.
No new COVID-19-related deaths were reported Saturday. Since Monday, 113 people statewide have died of COVID-19, the most in a single week since the coronavirus pandemic hit Idaho in March. In all, 1,038 Idahoans have died of COVID-19.
Since March, officials have reported 92,438 confirmed cases statewide. Health and Welfare reported that Idaho has had 17,345 probable cases of the coronavirus and estimates that 42,932 people are presumed to have recovered from the virus.
The following counties also reported new COVID-19 cases Saturday: Adams (1 new, 100 total), Bannock (84 new, 3,037 total), Bear Lake (3 new, 167 total), Benewah (1 new, 279 total), Bingham (25 new, 1,954 total), Blaine (5 new, 1,285 total), Boise (2 new, 123 total), Bonner (29 new, 1,007 total), Bonneville (66 new, 6,243 total), Boundary (3 new, 182 total), Butte (1 new, 113 total), Camas (1 new, 42 total), Canyon: 95 (14,815 total), Caribou (1 new, 268 total), Cassia (9 new, 2,049 total), Clark (1 new, 42 total), Clearwater (6 new, 509 total), Custer (2 new, 142 total), Elmore (12 new, 726 total), Franklin (8 new, 586 total), Fremont (9 new, 705 total), Gem (8 new, 859 total), Gooding (3 new, 755 total), Jefferson (14 new, 1,323 total), Jerome (11 new, 1,644 total), Kootenai (101 new, 7,608 total), Latah (2 new, 1,731 total), Lincoln (1 new, 302 total), Madison (24 new, 4,019 total), Minidoka (5 new, 1,627 total), Oneida (3 new, 125 total), Owyhee (8 new, 674 total), Payette (10 new, 1,470 total), Power (3 new, 381 total), Teton (2 new, 434 total), Twin Falls (41 new, 5,861 total), Valley (3 new, 229 total) and Washington (5 new, 669 total).
SCHOOL CLOSES, WINTER CARNIVAL CANCELED
The McCall Chamber of Commerce has canceled the McCall Winter Carnival, which was scheduled to take place Jan. 29 through Feb. 7. Organizers had announced in November that the carnival would move forward without mass gathering events like fireworks and parades.
“We simply cannot in good faith produce an event that goes against current restrictions on public gatherings and COVID safety measures,” a Facebook post on the event’s page said.
The Winter Carnival has been a staple in Valley County since the 1960s, featuring snow sculptures, vendor markets, parades and a dog sled race.
The carnival wasn’t the only cancellation announced Saturday. The Marsing School District said in a Facebook post that it would cancel kindergarten through fifth-grade classes for the upcoming week due to a staffing shortage. Officials said they expected classes to resume on Dec. 14.
CENTRAL DISTRICT HEALTH WALKS BACK EXPANDED PUBLIC HEALTH ORDER
The board of Boise-based Central District Health decided Friday to delay voting on an expanded public health order that would have tightened COVID-19 restrictions in Ada, Boise, Elmore and Valley counties, opting to revise the proposed order and seek additional public input ahead of another meeting on Tuesday.
Roughly 200 protesters arrived at Central District Health headquarters Friday evening as the board members discussed the order. The initial order would have expanded a mask mandate, created new rules for bars and restaurants and prohibited organized sports, including school sports, among other things.
A copy of the revised order was posted to the district’s website Friday evening. The revised version walks back some of the original proposals, allowing sporting events to continue, letting bars and restaurants keep bartops open and allowing visits at nursing homes and long-term care facilities.
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 4,372 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 814 admissions to the ICU and 5,461 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. 4, the health system was reporting 151 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 499 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 20%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Dec. 4, the health system was reporting 95 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 302 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 26.7%.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Dec. 1 : District Services (5), Monroe Elementary (1), Pierce Park Elementary (1), Riverglen Junior High (1), Taft Elementary (1), Trail Wind Elementary (1), Whitney Elementary (2).
West Ada School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff for Nov. 22-Dec. 5: Centennial High (13), Central Academy (1), Eagle Academy (4), Eagle High (10), Idaho Fine Arts (1), Meridian Academy (2), Meridian High (20), Mountain View High (23), Renaissance High (10), Rocky Mountain High (22), Crossroads Middle (1), Eagle Middle (5), Heritage Middle (10), Lake Hazel Middle (10), Lewis and Clark Middle (10), Lowell Scott Middle (4), Meridian Middle (6), Sawtooth Middle (6), Star Middle (4), Victory Middle (6), Barbara Morgan STEM (3), Cecil D. Andrus Elementary (2), Chaparral Elementary (1), Chief Joseph School of the Arts (3), Christine Donnell (4), Desert Sage Elementary (5), Discovery Elementary (1), Eagle Hills Elementary (1), Frontier Elementary (1), Galileo STEM Academy (1), Hillsdale Elementary (4), Hunter Elementary (3), Mary McPherson (2), Meridian Elementary (3), Paramount Elementary (3), Pepper Ridge Elementary (3), Pioneer School of the Arts (3), Pleasant View Elementary (2), Ponderosa Elementary (5), Prospect Elementary (4), Seven Oaks Elementary (1), Siena Elementary (3), Silver Sage Elementary (1), Star Elementary (1), Summerwind STEM Academy (1), Ustick Elementary (1), Willow Creek Elementary (2).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Saturday, Health and Welfare reported that 490,387 people had been tested statewide. About 18.8% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 24,226, Adams 100, Bannock 3,037, Bear Lake 167, Benewah 279, Bingham 1,954, Blaine 1,285, Boise 123, Bonner 1,007, Bonneville 6,243, Boundary 182, Butte 113, Camas 42, Canyon 14,815, Caribou 268, Cassia 2,049, Clark 42, Clearwater 509, Custer 142, Elmore 726, Franklin 586, Fremont 705, Gem 859, Gooding 755, Idaho 714, Jefferson 1,323, Jerome 1,644, Kootenai 7,608, Latah 1,731, Lemhi 376, Lewis 203, Lincoln 302, Madison 4,019, Minidoka 1,627, Nez Perce 2,300, Oneida 125, Owyhee 674, Payette 1,470, Power 381, Shoshone 534, Teton 434, Twin Falls 5,861, Valley 229, Washington 669.
