Statewide COVID situation continues to improve

By Reader Staff

Last week, state health officials reported that Idaho had met the “peak” of its latest novel coronavirus surge, propelled by the highly contagious omicron variant.

This week, data continued to indicate an improved situation across the state, with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare authorizing all hospitals to exit crisis standard operations. The last among Idaho’s health districts to enter crisis standards of care — those in the southwestern and south-central regions of the state — did so on Jan. 24 in order to preserve resources amid a record-breaking spike in COVID case rates. While there was concern that the trends would push hospitals statewide to re-enter crisis mode, the Idaho Capital Sun reported Feb. 15 that it wouldn’t be necessary because “the omicron-fueled surge of COVID-19 is now receding as fast as it rose.”

According to statewide data compiled by Idaho Education News, new COVID-19 cases dropped by 10% over the past week. In addition, the backlog of positive test results yet to be processed and included in the state’s current case counts has shrunk from nearly 41,000 to about 33,000.

Percentages of Idahoans over 5 years old receiving initial vaccinations and boosters against the coronavirus are also on a steady rise, according to Idaho Ed News — a welcome trend, after data from IDHW shows that those fully vaccinated and boosted against the virus are 11 times less likely to hospitalized with COVID and 20 times less likely to die from it. 

The education-focused news outlet also tracks positive case counts in K-12 school districts across the state. Of the 10 districts included in the latest COVID update, nine reported drastic reductions in active cases, most seeing a 50% or more decrease over the past week.

While Idaho’s pandemic trends are encouraging, health officials are quick to point out that a return to normalcy is far from imminent. While testing positivity — a main indication of virus activity in a population — has decreased from 32% to about 25% in recent weeks, epidemiologists say that 5% or higher means a virus remains rampant.