As campuses and schools revisit their pandemic protocols, Idaho’s new coronavirus case numbers continued to trend downward.

Other coronavirus metrics also improved, but new cases involving 5- to 17-year-olds increased slightly.

This week’s numbers:

Cases: A fifth consecutive weekly decrease, but a small one.

The state and its health districts added 8,951 cases to its count, a 2% decrease.

The state has reported 432,707 confirmed or probable coronavirus cases.

Case backlog: Still dissipating.

“Data for January are incomplete,” the state reported on its coronavirus website Monday. “Due to the surge in cases Jan. 10-Feb. 5, approximately 8,200 outstanding positive laboratory results received during that time are pending local public health district review and followup.”

A week ago, the backlog was 17,000 cases.

Child cases: A slight uptick.

For the week ending Saturday, the state counted another 1,385 cases involving school-age children, a 4% decrease.

That’s still well below the omicron variant peak, when nearly 3,000 school-age children contracted coronavirus from Jan. 23 to Jan. 29.

Positive test rate: Sharply decreasing, for the fifth successive week.

For the week ending Feb. 26, 6.2% of coronavirus tests came back positive, down from 10%.

It’s the lowest rate since December, and close to the 5% threshold that suggests a virus is under control.

Hospitalizations: Another week of decreases across the board.

On Wednesday, Idaho reported 175 COVID-19 hospitalizations, a 38% decrease.

The 25 ICU admissions represent a 61% decrease.

Four children were in pediatric beds with COVID-19, down from six the previous week.

Deaths: An increase.

Last week, 58 Idahoans died of COVID-19, up 7%.

Idaho’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 4,788.

Vaccinations: Current vaccination rates, and weekly comparisons.

• All Idahoans, ages 5 and up: 54%. (Last week, 53.8%.)
• 5- to 11-year-olds: 16%. (Last week, 15%.)
• 12- to 15-year-olds: 37%. (Unchanged.)
• 16- and 17-year-olds: 43%. (Last week, 42%.)
• 18- to 24-year-olds: 50% (Unchanged.)

Here are the latest booster shot rates:

• All age groups: 44.2%. (Last week: 43.9%.)
• 12- to 15-year-olds: 14.5%. (Last week: 13.9%.)
• 16- and 17-year-olds: 21.7%. (Last week: 21.1%.)
• 18- to 24-year-olds: 20.1%. (Last week: 19.8%.)

K-12 thumbnails

• Blaine County: Three active student cases and one staff case last week. The district reported a total of five cases the previous week.
• Boise: 16 positive cases last week, down from 55. Boise trustees will meet Monday to discuss lifting the district’s mask mandate.
• Bonneville: No new data available.
• Coeur d’Alene: Three positive cases last week, down from 18.
• Idaho Falls: One confirmed case for the week ending Feb. 25, unchanged from the previous week.
• Kuna: No new data available.
• Moscow: No cases last week; one case the previous week.
• Nampa: Five cases last week, down from 13.
• Pocatello-Chubbuck: Two staff cases reported Friday. A decrease from a total of five cases.
• Twin Falls: No new data available.
• West Ada: Two active cases, for a five-day period ending Sunday, unchanged from the previous week.

Higher education thumbnails

• Boise State University: Eight cases, up from seven the previous week. Four new cases involved off-campus students, two involved residential students and two involved faculty or staff. No students were in campus isolation beds. Positive test rate: 0.7%, up from 0.0% the previous week. Boise State eased its masking requirements last week.
• Brigham Young University-Idaho: One active student case Thursday. BYU reported one active case on Feb. 28.
• College of Eastern Idaho: No data available. On Feb. 28, CEI suspended its contact tracing program “until further notice.”
• College of Idaho: No cases in the past week, down from five the previous week. (229 for the year).
• College of Southern Idaho: One new student case last week. CSI reported a total of three new cases the previous week.
• College of Western Idaho: No recent cases. (February total: 16.)
• Idaho State University: 12 cases for the week ending Tuesday, down from 17 the previous week. Eight current cases involve students.
• Lewis-Clark State College: No active cases Friday, down from two the previous week.
• North Idaho College: Six self-reported cases for the week ending Feb. 26.
• Northwest Nazarene University: One staff case reported last week, down from a total of two cases the previous week.
• University of Idaho: Five reported cases for the week ending Feb. 25, down from six the previous week. The U of I rescinded its masking requirement last week.