This article was originally written by Nicole Blanchard for the Idaho Statesman.
Idaho’s coronavirus data continued an optimistic trend over the weekend, as health officials reported declining numbers of cases and few deaths following a deadly week.
According to data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and state health districts, Idaho added 639 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, over the weekend. On Saturday, officials reported 373 confirmed and 84 probable cases (457 total), and on Sunday, officials reported 151 new confirmed and 31 new probable cases (182 total).
The weekend days’ totals are some of the lowest in months, following a trend over the last few weeks of slowly declining daily case numbers in Idaho. On Sunday, the state’s seven-day moving average had fallen to 566 new confirmed and probable cases per day over the last week. That’s a drastic improvement from mid-December, when the seven-day moving average hit a peak of more than 1,600 new cases per day.
St. Luke’s and Saint Alphonsus health systems also reported slight declines in the number of their admitted patients that had COVID-19.
The improvements come as Idaho has hit another deadly period in the pandemic. Since the start of January, 233 Idahoans have died of COVID-19 — 64 of those in the last week. Health and Welfare reported two coronavirus-related deaths over the weekend, one in Ada County on Saturday (395 total) and one in Bonneville County on Sunday (132 total). To date, 1,671 Idahoans have died of COVID-19.
Idaho has confirmed 130,174 cases of COVID-19 since March, along with 29,401 probable cases. More than 76,000 people are considered “recovered” from the disease, though some Idahoans report lingering symptoms including vertigo, blood clots, heart complications and persistent loss of smell and taste.
The following counties reported new cases on Saturday: Ada (170 new, 37,164 total), Adams (2 new, 235 total), Bannock (14 new, 4,315 total), Benewah (2 new, 408 total), Bingham (6 new, 2,442 total), Blaine (20 new, 1,687 total), Bonner (14 new, 2,075 total), Bonneville (21 new, 8,306 total), Boundary (5 new, 339 total), Camas (1 new, 48 total), Canyon (36 new, 19,828 total), Elmore (2 new, 1,152 total), Franklin (3 new, 794 total), Gem (6 new, 1,256 total), Jefferson (3 new, 1,662 total), Jerome (1 new, 1,886 total), Kootenai (29 new, 13,581 total), Lewis (1 new, 269 total), Lincoln (1 new, 357 total), Madison (10 new, 5,044 total), Minidoka (4 new, 1,853 total), Owyhee (1 new, 843 total), Payette (5 new, 1,824 total), Shoshone (3 new, 888 total), Teton (1 new, 554 total), Twin Falls (8 new, 6,757 total), Valley (1 new, 542 total) and Washington (3 new, 826 total).
And the following counties reported new cases on Sunday: Ada (59 new, 37,223 total), Adams (2 new, 237 total), Blaine (14 new, 1,701 total), Bonner (7 new, 2,082 total), Bonneville (4 new, 8,310 total), Boundary (2 new, 341 total), Canyon (14 new, 19,842 total), Cassia (4 new, 2,367 total), Elmore (1 new, 1,153 total), Fremont (1 new, 832 total), Gooding (3 new, 887 total), Jerome (3 new, 1,889 total), Kootenai (7 new, 13,588 total), Madison (6 new, 5,050 total), Owyhee (2 new, 845 total), Payette (2 new, 1,826 total), Shoshone (1 new, 889 total), Teton (5 new, 559 total), Twin Falls (11 new, 6,768 total), Valley (2 new, 544 total) and Washington (1 new, 827 total).
DAILY DETAILS
Vaccine doses administered in Idaho: 91,066, according to Health and Welfare. Of those, 62,058 people have received only their first dose.
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 6,496 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 1,129 admissions to the ICU and 8,478 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 Jan. 23, the health system was reporting 44 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 409 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 10%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Jan. 23, the health system was reporting 49 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 347 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 18.1%.
Testing totals: At the end of the day Sunday, Health and Welfare reported that 590,967 people had been tested statewide. About 22% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Boise School District: Reported cases since Jan. 19: Borah High (3), East Junior High (2), Garfield Elementary (1), Hillside Junior High (1), Monroe Elementary (1), Pierce Park Elementary (1), Riverside Elementary (1), South Junior High (3), West Junior High (1), Whittier Elementary (1).
West Ada School District: Reported cases from Jan. 10-23: Centennial High (5), Eagle Academy (1), Eagle High (3), Idaho Fine Arts (1), Mountain View High (7), Rebound School of Opportunity (1), Rocky Mountain High (1), Crossroads Middle (1), Lewis and Clark Middle (2) Lewis and Clark Middle (1), Meridian Middle (1), Victory Middle (1), Chaparral Elementary (1), Frontier Elementary (2), Hillsdale Elementary (3), Hunter Elementary (2), Mary McPherson Elementary (2), Paramount Elementary (1), Pleasant View Elementary (1), Siena Elementary (1), Summerwind STEM (2).
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 37,223, Adams 237, Bannock 4,315, Bear Lake 230, Benewah 408, Bingham 2,442, Blaine 1,701, Boise 216, Bonner 2,082, Bonneville 8,310, Boundary 341, Butte 147, Camas 48, Canyon 19,842, Caribou 323, Cassia 2,367, Clark 44, Clearwater 721, Custer 174, Elmore 1,153, Franklin 794, Fremont 832, Gem 1,256, Gooding 887, Idaho 862, Jefferson 1,662, Jerome 1,889, Kootenai 13,588, Latah 2,304, Lemhi 396, Lewis 269, Lincoln 357, Madison 5,050, Minidoka 1,853, Nez Perce 2,954, Oneida 203, Owyhee 845, Payette 1,826, Power 436, Shoshone 889, Teton 559, Twin Falls 6,768, Valley 544, Washington 827.
