White House Task Force report says Idaho remains in coronavirus ‘red zone’
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - The latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report obtained by ABC News shows Idaho is still in the red zone for new confirmed cases.
This means 101 or more new cases per 100,000 population were reported last week, with the 12th highest rate in the country.
Idaho is also in the red zone for test positivity, indicating a rate at or above 10.1%, with the 4th highest rate in the country.
The Gem State has seen an increase in new cases and an increase in test positivity over the last week.
Ada County, Bonneville County and Canyon County had the highest number of new cases over the last 3 weeks. These counties represent 40.5% of new cases in Idaho.
Hospitalization and ICU bed utilization are increasing as case rates, and test positivity among the older population are increasing.
Moscow (University of Idaho) and Rexburg (Brigham Young University-Idaho) are experiencing dramatic increases in case rates, especially among college-age residents.
61% of all counties in Idaho have moderate or high levels of community transmission (yellow, orange, or red zones), with 43% having high levels of community transmission (red zone).
During the week of Sep 14 - Sep 20, 4% of nursing homes had at least one new resident COVID-19 case, 13% had at least one new staff COVID-19 case and 1% had at least one new resident COVID-19 death.
Idaho had 157 new cases per 100,000 population in the last week, compared to a national average of 93 per 100,000.
Current staff deployed from the federal government as assets to support the state response are: 9 to support operations activities from FEMA and 1 to support epidemiology activities from CDC.
Between Sep 19 - Sep 25, on average, 18 patients with confirmed COVID-19 and 4 patients with suspected COVID-19 were reported as newly admitted each day to hospitals in Idaho. An average of greater than 95% of hospitals reported either new confirmed or new suspected COVID patients each day during this period.
