Idaho’s coronavirus trends all moved in the right direction last week.
New case numbers continued to head downward — across the state and in schools as well.
This week’s numbers:
Cases: A fourth consecutive weekly decrease.
The state and its health districts still added 9,131 cases last week, but that represents a 20% decrease.
The state has reported 423,756 confirmed or probable coronavirus cases.
Case backlog: Dwindling.
“Data for January are incomplete,” the state reported on its coronavirus website Sunday. “Due to the surge in cases Jan. 10-Feb. 5, approximately 17,000 outstanding positive laboratory results received during that time are pending local public health district review and followup.”
A week ago, the backlog was 25,700 cases.
Child cases: A fourth successive weekly decrease.
For the week ending Saturday, 1,332 school-age children contracted coronavirus, an 18% decrease.
By comparison, nearly 3,000 school-age children contracted coronavirus in the seven-day period ending Jan. 29.
Positive test rate: A fourth consecutive week of sharp decreases.
For the week ending Feb. 19, 10% of coronavirus tests came back positive, down from 16.4%.
As this rate continues to decline, it moves closer to the 5% mark — a threshold that suggests a virus is under control.
Hospitalizations: Another week of decreases across the board.
On Wednesday, Idaho reported 276 COVID-19 hospitalizations, a 27% decrease.
The state counted 62 ICU admissions, down 28%.
Six children were in pediatric beds with COVID-19, down from 10 the previous week.
Deaths: Also declining sharply.
While 54 Idahoans died of COVID-19 last week, that is a 56% decrease from the preceding week.
Idaho’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 4,730.
Vaccinations: Current vaccination rates, and weekly comparisons.
- All Idahoans, ages 5 and up: 53.8%. (Last week, 53.6%.)
- 5- to 11-year-olds: 15%. (Unchanged.)
- 12- to 15-year-olds: 37%. (Unchanged.)
- 16- and 17-year-olds: 42%. (Unchanged.)
- 18- to 24-year-olds: 50% (Unchanged.)
Here are the latest booster shot rates:
- All age groups: 43.9%. (Last week: 43.6%.)
- 12- to 15-year-olds: 13.9%. (Last week: 13.1%.)
- 16- and 17-year-olds: 21.1%. (Last week: 20.3%.)
- 18- to 24-year-olds: 19.8%. (Last week: 19.5%.)
K-12 thumbnails
- Blaine County: Five active student cases last week. The district reported a total of six cases the previous week.
- Boise: 53 positive cases last week, down from 69.
- Bonneville: No new data available.
- Coeur d’Alene: One district with an increase. 18 positive cases last week, up from 12.
- Idaho Falls: One confirmed case for the week ending Feb. 18, down from five.
- Kuna: 10 positive cases Friday, down from 23 the previous week.
- Moscow: One new case last week, down from five.
- Nampa: 13 cases last week, down from 29.
- Pocatello-Chubbuck: Five cases reported Friday, two involving students. A decrease from a total of eight cases.
- Twin Falls: No new data available.
- West Ada: Two active cases, for a five-day period ending Sunday, down from four the previous week.
Higher education thumbnails
- Boise State University: Seven cases, down from 44 cases the previous week. Of the new cases, five involved off-campus students and two involved faculty and staff. No students in campus isolation beds. No positive test results last week, from a total of 178 tests administered.
- Brigham Young University-Idaho: One active case Sunday, involving an employee.
- College of Eastern Idaho: Two cases, both involving students. CEI reported a total of six cases the previous week.
- College of Idaho: Five cases in the past week, up from four the previous week. (229 for the year). One student in isolation off-campus.
- College of Southern Idaho: Three new cases last week, two involving students. CSI reported a total of three new cases the previous week.
- College of Western Idaho: No recent cases, down from five the previous week. (Monthly total: 16.)
- Idaho State University: 17 cases for the week ending Tuesday, down from 37 the previous week. Fifteen current cases involve students.
- Lewis-Clark State College: Two active student cases Friday, down from three the previous week.
- North Idaho College: NIC is reporting no current cases.
- Northwest Nazarene University: Two active cases reported last week, unchanged from the preceding week. One active case involves a student, the other involves an employee.
- University of Idaho: Six reported cases for the week ending Feb. 18, down from 17 the previous week.