New coronavirus case numbers climbed in Idaho for the second successive week.
As of Friday afternoon, the state and its seven health districts reported 40,037 confirmed or probable coronavirus cases, a 7 percent increase from the previous week.
New case numbers increased in nearly every corner of the state, but the spike was the highest in Idaho County. Case numbers increased by a whopping 125 percent, largely fueled by an outbreak at the North Idaho Correctional Institution.
However, local hotspots popped up across the state, especially in Eastern Idaho. Cases increased by 47 percent in Madison County. Hotspots include Franklin County (a 41 percent increase), Latah County (a 32 percent increase), Fremont County (a 21 percent increase), Caribou County (a 20 percent increase), Jefferson County (an 18 percent increase), Bannock County (a 16 percent increase) and Bingham County (a 16 percent increase).
Not all the numbers trended upward. Coronavirus deaths and new hospitalizations dropped this week. However, death rates tend to increase a couple of weeks after an increase in new cases.
In other coronavirus headlines from the week:
A COVID-19 school fatality. A Middleton School District employee died of COVID-19, Superintendent Kristin Beck told trustees Wednesday. “The employee contracted COVID-19 prior to the beginning of in-person learning within the school district and was not present in the school facilities while students were also on campus,” Southwest District Health Director Nikki Zogg said Thursday.
School closings. Spikes in coronavirus cases prompted closures at North Star Charter School in Eagle and the Emmett and Glenns Ferry school districts. (Check our statewide map for school status in your area.)
School case data on the way? The state has been releasing data on coronavirus cases in long-term care facilities for months, and the state’s colleges and universities are posting campus case numbers. But school districts and charters have been deciding whether to post data — and the results are inconsistent. A statewide school database could be available in the near future, a Department of Health and Welfare administrator said this week.
This week’s numbers (and comparisons with last week):
Statewide data | Sept. 18 | Sept. 25 | Change, Sept. 12-18 | Change, Sept. 19-25 |
Cases, confirmed and probable | 37,279 | 40,037 | 2,004 | 2,758 |
Deaths | 438 | 458 | 26 | 20 |
Hospitalizations | 1,701 | 1,795 | 132 | 94 |
ICU admissions | 441 | 451 | 29 | 10 |
Estimated, patients recovered | 19,915 | 21,291 | 1,863 | 1,366 |
Tests completed | 285,137 | 298,652 | 12,249 | 13,515 |
Health care workers infected | 2,542 | 2,688 | 194 | 146 |
Positive test rate (based on all cases divided by testing numbers, as reported by the state) | 13.1 percent | 13.4 percent | +0.2 percentage points | +0.3 percentage points |
Cases in select counties | Sept. 18 | Sept. 25 | New cases, Sept. 12-18 | New cases, Sept. 19-25 |
Ada | 12,261 | 12,693 | 388 | 432 |
Canyon | 7,853 | 8,087 | 201 | 234 |
Bonneville | 2,377 | 2,638 | 249 | 261 |
Kootenai | 2,456 | 2,634 | 121 | 178 |
Twin Falls | 1,997 | 2,196 | 135 | 199 |
Bannock | 935 | 1,084 | 85 | 149 |
Bingham | 834 | 971 | 133 | 137 |
Payette | 802 | 864 | 44 | 62 |
Jerome | 715 | 753 | 38 | 38 |
Cassia | 626 | 705 | 32 | 79 |
Minidoka | 614 | 675 | 30 | 61 |
Madison | 446 | 654 | 115 | 208 |
Blaine | 624 | 648 | 15 | 24 |
Jefferson | 467 | 549 | 66 | 82 |
Nez Perce | 389 | 435 | 17 | 46 |
Latah | 310 | 410 | 36 | 100 |
Washington | 329 | 357 | 11 | 28 |
Elmore | 317 | 344 | 10 | 27 |
Owyhee | 323 | 326 | 6 | 3 |
Bonner | 286 | 320 | 31 | 34 |
Gem | 269 | 307 | 14 | 38 |
Gooding | 263 | 280 | 16 | 17 |
Power | 223 | 251 | 41 | 28 |
Idaho | 88 | 198 | 34 | 110 |
Fremont | 155 | 188 | 20 | 33 |
Teton | 146 | 162 | 2 | 16 |
Benewah | 136 | 141 | 12 | 5 |
Franklin | 95 | 134 | 19 | 39 |
Caribou | 95 | 114 | 34 | 19 |