Idaho health officials predict ‘grim’ outlooks as COVID-19 numbers, hospitalizations surge
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - State health officials say the biggest tool to slow the spread of COVID-19 is to increase vaccination rates. That is the message from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Tuesday.
You can watch the press conference below.
Those who attended the briefing from DHW included Elke Shaw-Tulloch, administrator for the Division of Public Health, Dr. Christine Hahn, state epidemiologist, Dr. Kathryn Turner, deputy state epidemiologist, and Sarah Leeds, manager of the Idaho Immunization Program.
Elke Shaw-Tulloch, administrator for the Division of Public Health, said the department continues to be extremely alarmed by the increasing trends we are seeing in Idaho with COVID-19 cases.
She said the Delta variant is the dominant variant and continues to drive the cases in the wrong direction.
She said the state's numbers, specifically hospitalizations, are closer to the highest peaks we saw in November and December of 2020.
Cases have been increasing in every region of the state for the last four weeks, and our statewide 7 day moving average of cases per 100,000 went from a low of 3.4 on July 5 to 16.5 two weeks ago and now to 30.
Currently, only three counties have a 7 day moving average under 10 cases per 100,000.
The COVID-19 testing positivity rate has increased from a low of 2.8% on June 13 to 12.3% on Tuesday.
The health district wants the positivity rate to be below 5%.
The percentage of long term care facilities with outbreaks is currently at 15.5%.
Shaw-Tulloch said the biggest alarming concern is what they are seeing in the healthcare system.
"The hospitals are completely stressed and in many cases overwhelmed and seeking assistance from state and federal resources," she said.
She said they have been submitting emergency assistance requests to bring staff in from federal sources which puts Idaho in competition with other states experiencing the same emergency.
"It is very concerning that we are seeing this before schools are fully back in session, before our flu season turns into full swing and while we have right now large events like fairs and concerts happening across the state."
She said vaccination rates have increased slightly for the fourth week in a row but we are still only at 53% of Idahoans age 12 and older getting at least one dose, lagging the nation at 70%.
"The bottom line is we need more Idahoans to take action now and get vaccinated," Shaw-Tulloch said
Dr. Kathryn Turner, deputy state epidemiologist, said we are not just repeating the surge we saw in the summer of 2020. We are actually beating that surge and inching more toward the surge we saw last winter.
If current projections continue, she said we could reach those levels in the next few weeks.
She said they are also seeing an increase of people in the ICU with COVID-19 and are currently at the peak we saw last winter.
"The cases are very severe. The hospitalizations are increasing."
She said the surge is driving projections up to about 30,000 cases a week by mid October, and to put that in context, at our peak last winter, we had about 20,000 cases in a week.
She said they also project to see a significant increase in hospitalizations due to COVID-19. That could get to as many as 2,500 in a single week, which is also a lot higher than we saw last winter.
"It looks like it could be a grim winter for us, at least a grim fall," Turner said.
