This article was originally written by Nicole Blanchard for the Idaho Statesman.
Ada County set a record seven-day moving average for COVID-19 cases for the fourth time this week, hitting an average 408.6 new confirmed cases per day — an increase of nearly 50% since the beginning of the month.
According to data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Ada County added 371 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, bringing its total for the pandemic to 27,086. The average daily case rate for the county has increased 49.6% since Dec. 1, when Ada County was reporting 273.1 new confirmed cases per day.
Ada County’s Saturday total accounted for nearly half of the day’s 773 new confirmed cases reported statewide. Canyon and Kootenai counties also reported significant numbers of new cases, but neither total neared Ada’s. Canyon reported 94 new cases for a total of 15,950 to date, while Kootenai reported 80 new cases for a total of 8,957.
Several counties in the Eastern Idaho Public Health district removed a small number of cases, according to IDHW data. Fremont removed one (742 total), Jefferson removed four (1,416 total), Lemhi removed one (381 total) and Teton removed three (445 total).
Health officials also reported four new deaths related to COVID-19 on Saturday. Two of those were in Ada County, while Bannock and Owyhee counties reported one each. To date, 285 Ada County residents have died in connection with COVID-19. Forty-five Bannock County residents have died of COVID-19, as well as 18 Owyhee County residents. Idaho has reported 1,173 COVID-19-related deaths. The case fatality rate is 0.97%.
IDHW added 138 probable coronavirus cases Saturday, bringing the total to 19,666. A total of 101,033 people have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began in Idaho.
The following counties also reported new cases of COVID-19 Saturday: Bannock (44 new, 3,326 total), Benewah (1 new, 295 total), Bingham (32 new, 2,086 total), Blaine (4 new, 1,359 total), Boise (5 new, 151 total), Bonner (15 new, 1,193 total), Bonneville (3 new, 6,863 total), Boundary (2 new, 206 total), Butte (2 new, 118 total), Caribou (1 new, 270 total), Cassia (24 new, 2,143 total), Elmore (14 new, 829 total), Franklin (8 new, 624 total), Gem (8 new, 966 total), Gooding (1 new, 795 total), Jerome (4 new, 1,693 total), Latah (2 new, 1,848 total), Madison (11 new, 4,357 total), Minidoka (11 new, 1,671 total), Oneida (10 new, 156 total), Owyhee (1 new, 714 total), Payette (6 new, 1,540 total), Power (3 new, 399 total), Shoshone (4 new, 618 total), Twin Falls (19 new, 6,019 total) and Valley (2 new, 252 total).
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 4,746 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 875 admissions to the ICU and 5,874 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. 11, the health system was reporting 120 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 461 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 17%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Dec. 11, the health system was reporting 107 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 293 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 26%.
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), DTEC (1), Frank Church High School (2), Hawthorne Elementary (2), Liberty Elementary (2), Lowell Elementary (1), Monroe Elementary (1), Pierce Park Elementary (1), Riverglen Junior High (1), South Jr. High (1), Taft Elementary (2), 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. 29-Dec. 12: Centennial High (21), Central Academy (1), Eagle Academy (5), Eagle High (18), Idaho Fine Arts (2), Meridian Academy (2), Meridian High (28), Mountain View High (30), Renaissance High (11), Rocky Mountain High (39), Crossroads Middle (2), Eagle Middle (8), Heritage Middle (11), Lake Hazel Middle (13), Lewis and Clark Middle (11), Lowell Scott Middle (7), Meridian Middle (8), Pathways Middle (2), Sawtooth Middle (10), Star Middle (5), Victory Middle (3), Barbara Morgan STEM (6), Cecil D. Andrus Elementary (2), Chaparral Elementary (1), Chief Joseph School of the Arts (5), Christine Donnell (5), Desert Sage Elementary (4), Discovery Elementary (3), Eagle Hills Elementary (2), Eliza Hart Spalding STEM (1), Frontier Elementary (1), Galileo STEM Academy (2), Hillsdale Elementary (3), Hunter Elementary (3), Joplin Elementary (1), Lake Hazel Elementary (1), Mary McPherson (1), Meridian Elementary (4), Paramount Elementary (3), Pioneer School of the Arts (3), Pleasant View Elementary (3), Ponderosa Elementary (4), Prospect Elementary (4), River Valley Elementary (3), Seven Oaks Elementary (1), Siena Elementary (3), Silver Sage Elementary (2), Star Elementary (1), Summerwind STEM Academy (1), Ustick Elementary (1), Willow Creek Elementary (3).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Saturday, Health and Welfare reported that 504,213 people had been tested statewide. About 20% of those have been positive for COVID-19.
Counties with confirmed COVID-19 cases: Ada 27,086, Adams 108, Bannock 3,326, Bear Lake 172, Benewah 295, Bingham 2,086, Blaine 1,359, Boise 151, Bonner 1,193, Bonneville 6,863, Boundary 206, Butte 118, Camas 42, Canyon 15,950, Caribou 270, Cassia 2,143, Clark 43, Clearwater 576, Custer 151, Elmore 829, Franklin 624, Fremont 742, Gem 966, Gooding 795, Idaho 756, Jefferson 1,416, Jerome 1,693, Kootenai 8,957, Latah 1,848, Lemhi 381, Lewis 237, Lincoln 318, Madison 4,357, Minidoka 1,671, Nez Perce 2,468, Oneida 156, Owyhee 714, Payette 1,540, Power 399, Shoshone 618, Teton 445, Twin Falls 6,019, Valley 252, Washington 694.
