Idaho’s largest county jumps to medium COVID-19 risk, per CDC. Positivity rate climbs

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has moved Ada County up to a medium-risk community for COVID-19, according to its data tracker.

And a major Treasure Valley hospital has reported an uptick in positive cases and hospitalizations, even though numbers are still well below those seen during major surges.

Last week, 10.9% of the COVID-19 tests in Idaho came back positive, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s dashboard. Public health experts say that anything higher than 5% is concerning. The state’s positivity rate was 2.6% the week of April 17-23, but it has climbed steadily since.

Nationally, the United States has seen about 100,000 new COVID-19 cases per day the past few weeks, The New York Times reported. This is as new omnicron subvariants continue to spread.

As of Thursday, Ada County had the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Idaho (407) for the week.

When counties are at the medium risk level, the CDC recommends that immunocompromised people talk to a health care provider about wearing a mask, and that those in close contact with people at high risk for severe disease consider wearing a mask when indoors with them. At all disease levels, the CDC recommends that Americans stay current with COVID-19 vaccinations.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 began to rise in mid-May, according to Idaho’s dashboard. At the beginning of May, Idaho’s hospitals were seeing roughly 30 to 40 hospitalizations. As of Monday, 86 people were hospitalized with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19.

At St. Luke’s Health System, the test positivity rate has been around 20% over the past week, according to spokesperson Laura Crawford.

Over the past few weeks, the Boise hospital has cared for roughly 12-15 patients with COVID-19, Crawford said. This week, that number jumped to the “low 30s,” she said. The number of patients in intensive care has remained in the single digits, where it has been for the past couple of months, Crawford said.

Compared to last spring, the system has reported a higher occurrence of positive tests but lower hospitalizations, she added, noting that the number of positive tests is likely “significantly under-reported” because of the prevalence of at-home tests.

In May, Central District Health, the Boise area’s public health district, voted to remove any recommendations regarding masks from its materials, the Idaho Statesman previously reported. The district might also choose to be tight-lipped later this summer regarding vaccinations for children.

Masks have repeatedly been shown to be effective at reducing the spread of COVID-19, and vaccines have been shown to be safe and effective, according to the CDC.

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