Idaho’s COVID-19 week: Positivity rate falls while three total omicron cases identified

Omicron, the new strain of the coronavirus causing record-breaking surges in COVID-19 infections in eastern and central parts of the U.S. has been identified in multiple Idahoans.

The latest case is in a Fremont County resident, according to Eastern Idaho Public Health.

In a Thursday news release, the public health district announced the infection, which is the third case caused by the new omicron variant so far identified in Idaho. The first case was announced by Central District Health on Dec. 10 in an Ada County resident who had recently traveled out of state. Since then, a second case caused by omicron has also been identified in Ada County.

On Dec. 17, the city of Moscow announced it had found omicron in municipal wastewater.

Though less than a handful of omicron infections have been identified in Idaho, health officials expect many more cases caused by the variant to emerge in the coming days.

On Thursday, a spokesperson for the Eastern Idaho health district did not have further information about whether the Fremont County resident had recently traveled.

“Omicron seems to spread more easily between people,” said Health and Welfare director Dave Jeppesen in a Monday news release. “We all need to keep taking precautions against COVID-19 by getting vaccinated or getting a booster dose, wearing masks in crowded areas, physically distancing from others, washing our hands frequently, and staying home if we’re sick to avoid overwhelming our healthcare systems again.”

After over 15 weeks with crisis standards of care activated in the Panhandle Health District in North Idaho, Health and Welfare deactivated crisis standards in the region on Monday, according to a news release. North Idaho was the first region of the state to have crisis standards activated in September largely due to an influx of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients at local hospitals. The rest of the state soon followed, and crisis standards were deactivated everywhere except Idaho’s northernmost reaches on Nov. 22.

On Dec. 17, Dr. Christine Hahn, the state’s epidemiologist, said the new strain doesn’t appear to be more severe than delta, which caused this fall’s surge, but cautioned that more data is needed.

Idaho cases, deaths

Since Dec. 17, Idaho has recorded 1,916 new COVID-19 cases and 31 deaths, according to data from Health and Welfare.

The state’s test positivity rate, which measures the proportion of COVID-19 tests that come back positive, fell to 5.3% for the week of Dec. 12, the most recent data available. Public health experts aim for a rate of less than 5% to keep community transmission under control, and the state’s rate hasn’t been as low since July. In September, it climbed as high as over 17%.

As of Monday, there were 253 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 statewide, and 82 patients in intensive care, according to state data.

Since the start of the pandemic, Idaho has recorded 13,915 hospitalizations, 2,343 intensive care patients and 13,249 infected health care workers.

Vaccine mandates

After the new year, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on vaccine mandates put in place by the Biden administration that have been challenged by Idaho Gov. Brad Little and other states’ leaders.

On Jan. 7, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments regarding the legality of mandates for large employers and some health care workers.

Little joined other states in suing the federal government over the private employer mandate and health care worker mandates in November.

On Dec. 17, a federal appeals court lifted a measure put in place by a lower court that had blocked the private employer requirement.

Biden’s requirement for private employers, which is scheduled to take effect in January, would be enforced through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for companies with 100 or more employees, with the option of weekly tests for the unvaccinated and a requirement that unvaccinated workers wear masks in the workplace. The health care worker mandate would require the shots for workers at providers that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.

Another mandate for federal contractors — which Idaho has also joined a lawsuit opposing — is also on hold.

Little has called the mandates “unprecedented government overreach” and “ineffective,” according to news releases. The White House has said the requirements are a vital part of of protecting the population with safe and effective vaccines from an ongoing pandemic that has already killed more than 800,000 Americans.

An executive order requiring federal workers to be vaccinated went into effect in November, with over 96.5% of employees in compliance, having either begun their vaccination process or sought out a pending or approved religious or medical exemption, according to the White House. The Biden administration has said it is in a “period of education and counseling” for those employees who are still not compliant, which will be followed by “additional enforcement steps.”

Long-term care update

As of Thursday, Health and Welfare reports that there are 5,355 active coronavirus cases among 95 long-term care facilities. There are 256 facilities with resolved outbreaks.

To date, 1,016 people from 220 facilities in Idaho have died from COVID-19-related causes — seven more than were reported last Friday. Long-term care deaths account for about 25% of the 4,099 in the state.

Below is a list of Idaho cities along with the number of facilities in each city that have active cases among residents and/or staff. For an outbreak to be considered “resolved,” more than 28 days must pass (two incubation periods) without any additional cases associated with the facility.

American Falls (1), Ashton (1), Bannock (1), Blackfoot (1), Boise (21), Bonners Ferry (2), Buhl (1), Caldwell (1), Chubbuck (1), Coeur d’Alene (8), Eagle (2), Emmett (1), Fruitland (1), Hayden (2), Idaho Falls (1), Kootenai (1), Kuna (2), Lewiston (6), McCall (1), Meridian (11), Montpelier (2), Mountain Home (2), Nampa (3), Payette (1), Pocatello (5), Post Falls (4), Salmon (1), Sandpoint (4), Silverton (1), St. Maries (1), Star (1), Twin Falls (3), Weiser (2)

Weekly snapshot

Vaccine doses administered in Idaho: 2,122,415, according to Health and Welfare. Of those, 886,904 people have been fully vaccinated, which accounts for 56.7% of Idahoans age 12 and older.

Test positivity rate: Out of the 26,560 COVID-19 tests conducted for the week of Dec. 12-Dec. 18, 5.3% came back positive.

For a full list of daily numbers on a county-by-county basis, visit our “What We Know” story.