Idaho remains in coronavirus ‘red zone’ with 17th highest rate in country

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - The latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report obtained by ABC News shows Idaho remains in the red zone for new confirmed cases.

That means 101 or more new cases per 100,000 population last week, with the 17th 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 2nd highest rate in the country.

The Gem State has seen an increase in new cases and stability in test positivity.

Ada County, Canyon County and Kootenai County had the highest number of new cases over the last 3 weeks. These counties represent 43.6% of new cases in Idaho.

Test positivity is over 20% in 27 counties; compared to the week prior, case rates from this past week increased in 27 counties and test positivity increased in 20 counties.

89% of all counties in Idaho have moderate or high levels of community transmission (yellow, orange, or red zones), with 86% having high levels of community transmission (red zone).

During the week of Nov 9 - Nov 15, 28% of nursing homes had at least one new resident COVID-19 case, 56% had at least one new staff COVID-19 case, and 6% had at least one new resident COVID-19 death. There were at least 9 facilities with more than 5 cases among staff and residents in the past week.

Idaho had 557 new cases per 100,000 population, compared to a national average of 356 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 6 to support medical activities from VA.

Between Nov 14 - Nov 20, on average, 56 patients with confirmed COVID-19 and 9 patients with suspected COVID-19 were reported as newly admitted each day to hospitals in Idaho. This is an increase of 11% in total COVID-19 hospital admissions.

You can view the full report HERE.