Idaho officials: COVID-19 climbing too fast to timely track

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho’s coronavirus cases are increasing faster than the state can track them, causing a lag in case counts that some public health leaders fear could lull residences into a false sense of security.

The Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) held a press conference Tuesday. You can watch it below.

Deputy state epidemiologist Dr. Kathryn Turner says the backlog is happening because public health agencies can’t keep up with the flood of positive COVID-19 tests.

That means it can be a day or more before they are reflected in the statewide counts.

As a result, the state’s COVID-19 tracker shows an average of about 48 new cases for every 100,000 people each day.

Turner says it's likely closer to 135 new cases a day per 100,000.