This article was originally written by Ruth Brown for the Idaho Statesman.
With only six of Idaho’s seven public health districts reporting, Idaho recorded 687 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 159 new probable cases, for a combined 846 new reported cases on Saturday.
Ada County reported 244 new confirmed cases, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. That brings the countywide total to 21,975 infections.
Ada County also saw two more deaths due to COVID-19-related causes, bringing the county’s death toll to 240 people. That means roughly 1 out of every 2,000 Ada County residents have died of the disease, according to the estimated 2019 population of Ada County.
The North Central Public Health District, which includes Nez Perce, Latah, Clearwater, Idaho and Lewis counties, did not report any new cases to Health and Welfare on Saturday. The district’s website also did not update Saturday.
Canyon County reported 79 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, according to Health and Welfare. That brings the countywide total to 13,777 infections and 142 fatalities.
Clearwater County was named a hot spot last week, but some of those are tied to mass testing that was conducted at Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino on Nov. 17. The results showed 108 residents of the men’s prison to be positive for the coronavirus, according to IDOC spokesman Jeff Ray. ICIO is a men’s prison that holds about 580 inmates.
Ray confirmed that IDOC also did mass testing at North Idaho Correctional Institution that week and found 49 cases among inmates. NICI is in Cottonwood, in Idaho County, and can hold about 400 inmates.
Since the pandemic reached Idaho, 84,863 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed. The state has reported 14,923 probable infections of the coronavirus and estimates that 40,120 people have recovered.
The state’s death toll is now at 917 people.
Other counties to record new confirmed cases Saturday included: Bannock 39 (2,724 total), Bear Lake 2 (150 total), Bingham 16 (1,822 total), Caribou 2 (263 total), Franklin 19 (536 total), Oneida 2 (109 total), Power 1 (371 total), Boise 1 (106 total), Elmore 7 (654 total), Valley 1 (198 total), Adams 2 (86 total), Gem 7 (764 total), Payette 8 (1,367 total), Owyhee 5 (611 total), Washington 3 (631 total), Kootenai 38 (6,744 total), Bonner 7 (850 total), Boundary 1 (160 total), Shoshone 1 (487 total), Twin Falls 54 (5,612 total), Blaine 4 (1,194 total), Cassia 13 (1,975 total), Gooding 5 (694 total), Jerome 10 (1,566 total), Lincoln 4 (288 total), Minidoka 6 (1,586 total), Bonneville 38 (5,689 total), Fremont 5 (649 total), Jefferson 11 (1,180 total), Lemhi 2 (372 total), Madison 46 (3,684 total), Teton 6 (414 total), Custer -2 (128 total)
DAILY DETAILS
Overall hospitalizations: Health and Welfare reports that there have been 3,948 hospitalizations of people with COVID-19, 742 admissions to the ICU and 5,009 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 Nov. 27, the health system was reporting 119 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 455 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 22%.
Saint Alphonsus Health System: As of Nov. 27, the health system was reporting 90 patients in its hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 out of 284 patients overall. The health system reported a 14-day coronavirus test positivity rate of 26.4%.
Boise School District: The district says the following schools or units have reported confirmed COVID-19 cases among students or staff since Nov. 17: Amity Elementary (1), Boise High (4), Borah High (5), Capital High (2), Collister Elementary (1), District Services (3), Fairmont Junior High (1), Frank Church High (1), Grace Jordan Elementary (2), Hidden Springs Elementary (1), Highlands Elementary (1), Hillcrest Elementary (3), Hillside Junior High (2), Les Bois Junior High (4), Liberty Elementary (2), Madison Early Childhood Education Center (1), Maple Grove Elementary (1), Morley Nelson Elementary (1), North Junior High (1), Roosevelt Elementary (1), South Junior High (3), Taft Elementary (2), Timberline High (5), Trail Wind Elementary (1), Valley View Elementary (1), Washington Elementary (1), Whittier 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. 14-27: Centennial High (5), Eagle High (11), Idaho Fine Arts (1), Meridian Academy (1), Meridian High (7), Mountain View High (15), Renaissance High (5), Rocky Mountain High (10), Virtual High School (1), Crossroads Middle (2), Heritage Middle (4), Lewis and Clark Middle (3), Lowell Scott Middle (9), Meridian Middle (4), Pathways Middle (1), Sawtooth Middle (5), Star Middle (5), Victory Middle (4), Virtual Middle (1), Barbara Morgan STEM (1), Cecil D. Andrus Elementary (2), Christine Donnell (1), Desert Sage Elementary (1), Discovery Elementary (2), Eliza Hart Spalding STEM (3), Frontier Elementary (1), Hillsdale Elementary (1), Hunter Elementary (1), Lake Hazel Elementary (2), Mary McPherson (5), Meridian Elementary (4), Pepper Ridge (3), Peregrine Elementary (2), Pleasant View Elementary (1), Ponderosa Elementary (2), Prospect Elementary (3), River Valley Elementary (4), Seven Oaks Elementary (1), Siena Elementary (1), Silver Sage Elementary (1), Summerwind STEM Academy (1), Ustick Elementary (5).
Testing totals: At the end of the day Saturday, Health and Welfare reported that 471,144 people had been tested statewide. About 18% 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 21,975, Adams 86, Bannock 2,724, Bear Lake 150, Benewah 261, Bingham 1,822, Blaine 1,194, Boise 106, Bonner 850, Bonneville 5,689, Boundary 160, Butte 104, Camas 40, Canyon 13,777, Caribou 263, Cassia 1,975, Clark 40, Clearwater 475, Custer 128, Elmore 654, Franklin 536, Fremont 649, Gem 764, Gooding 694, Idaho 684, Jefferson 1,180, Jerome 1,566, Kootenai 6,744, Latah 1,605, Lemhi 372, Lewis 174, Lincoln 288, Madison 3,684, Minidoka 1,586, Nez Perce 2,064, Oneida 109, Owyhee 611, Payette 1,367, Power 371, Shoshone 487, Teton 414, Twin Falls 5,612, Valley 198, Washington 631.
