COVID-19 UPDATES: 904 new Idaho COVID-19 cases, 7 new deaths
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) - Idaho officials reported 904 new COVID-19 cases and 7 new deaths Tuesday. That brings the total confirmed and probable cases reported since March 2020 to 210,315.
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.
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.
There are a total of 168,104 confirmed cases and 42,211 probable cases in all 44 of the 44 counties in Idaho, according to numbers released from the local health districts and the state. See the chart below.
The state said 784,362 people have received the vaccine, and 1,434,628 total doses have been administered. 708,425 people are fully vaccinated.
Southeastern Idaho Public Health has 50 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 and one new death in southeast Idaho. This brings the total of confirmed and probable cases to 18,154. Out of those cases, 17,573 have recovered from COVID-19. There are 247 deaths in the health district. You can view more HERE.
SIPH COVID-19 risk level monitor has four categories: minimal, moderate, high and critical. Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Butte, Caribou, Franklin, Oneida and Power are in the minimal risk category.
Eastern Idaho Public Health reported 59 new cases and one new death Tuesday. There are 32 new cases in Bonneville, 4 in Fremont, 5 in Jefferson, 2 in Lemhi, 12 in Madison and 4 in Teton. There are a total of 353 active cases and 271 total deaths. You can view more HERE.
EIPH said 60,855 people in the health district are fully vaccinated. There have 226 breakthrough cases, and those cases averaged 106 days from completing the vaccine. There have been 7 fully vaccinated people who have been hospitalized for COVID-19, and there have been 4 COVID-19 related deaths among those who have been fully vaccinated.
EIPH COVID-19 risk level monitor has four categories: minimal, moderate, high and critical. Bonneville, Clark, Custer, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison and Teton are in the minimal risk category.
EIPH covers Bonneville, Clark, Custer, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison and Teton counties.
The hotspots so far this week are Canyon County, Kootenai County, Twin Falls County, Ada County and Bonneville County.
The state is reporting there are 118,379 estimated recovered COVID-19 cases.
The average age of Idahoans with COVID-19 is 40.0 years and ranges from 1 to 100 years of age. The data excludes 48 persons with unknown age.
The age group with the most cases is 18-29 with 52,299 cases.
The state said 34 new hospitalizations have been reported bringing the total number to 9,429, and 3 new cases have been admitted to the ICU bringing the total to 1,558.
There are 12,467 asymptomatic reported cases and 11,398 cases among health care workers.
1,925 vaccine breakthrough cases have been reported.
7 new deaths were reported bringing the total recorded deaths to 2,258.
State officials say deaths by age group breaks down as follows:
- 6 people died between the ages of 18 and 29
- 14 people died between the ages of 30 and 39
- 43 people died between the ages of 40 to 49
- 109 people who died were between the ages of 50 to 59
- 322 people were between the ages of 60 and 69
- 650 people were between the ages of 70 and 79
- 1,114 people were 80+
94.73% of deaths with known race were White. 0.98% of deaths with known race were Asian. 0.4% of deaths with known race were Black or African American, 2.01% American Indian/Alaska Native and 1.87% were "Other race/multiple races." The race category for 10 deaths is pending.
90.57% of deaths with known race were Non-Hispanic. 9.43% of deaths with known ethnicity were Hispanic. The ethnicity for 9 deaths is pending.
COVID-19 in Idaho
| Public Health District | County | Cases | Probable | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central District Health | Ada Elmore Valley Boise | 48,449 1,892 764 305 | 9,812 497 229 137 | 497 19 6 3 |
| South Central Public Health District | Blaine Twin Falls Jerome Lincoln Cassia Gooding Minidoka Camas | 2,227 8,163 2,140 395 2,570 1,006 1,989 55 | 260 2,887 715 129 506 455 485 18 | 19 135 26 11 28 25 34 0 |
| Eastern Idaho Public Health | Bonneville Teton Madison Jefferson Custer Fremont Lemhi Clark | 15,539 1,283 7,547 3,162 256 1,214 577 58 | 4,370 584 994 881 62 164 146 11 | 180 4 28 33 3 14 9 0 |
| Southeastern Idaho Public Health | Bannock Bingham Caribou Power Franklin Bear Lake Oneida Butte | 5,588 2,930 357 490 984 325 271 175 | 3,745 2,103 373 214 312 117 128 42 | 119 78 12 9 17 5 4 1 |
| Panhandle Health District | Kootenai Bonner Boundary Benewah Shoshone | 18,484 2,991 536 686 1,326 | 2,476 663 418 156 79 | 233 46 14 10 41 |
| Public Health - Idaho North Central District | Nez Perce Idaho Latah Clearwater Lewis | 3,845 1,081 3,233 840 364 | 468 384 193 352 121 | 63 18 15 16 12 |
| Southwest District Health | Canyon Gem Payette Owyhee Adams Washington | 25,049 1,575 2,191 995 289 912 | 4,799 460 611 154 85 359 | 328 45 39 31 4 24 |
| TOTAL | 168,104 | 42,211 | 2,258 |
Below are the details released by the Idaho Division of Public Health. These numbers are updated after 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday based on surveillance system records provided by health districts. Local public health districts may be announcing cases of COVID-19 that are not reflected in the state’s numbers. These numbers are preliminary and subject to change.
