More record COVID-19 hospitalizations and 37 deaths, Idaho health officials report Monday

Nicole Blanchard
·2 min read
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For the third week in a row, Idaho has set a record for COVID-19 hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions, a record that comes as the state reported 37 new deaths related to the illness.

According to data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, an unheard-of 774 patients were in Idaho hospitals on Thursday and Friday with COVID-19. That’s up from 760 patients on Sept. 20, the previous record. Also on Thursday, Idaho set a record of COVID-19 patients in ICUs: 207. Those record numbers could increase as more hospitals report data to the state.

Dr. Robert Cavagnol, president of St. Luke’s Clinic, said in a tweet on Monday that the hospital system had 303 COVID-19 patients statewide. Of the COVID-19 patients requiring ICU care, Cavagnol said, all of them were unvaccinated.

“This is a pandemic of unvaccinated people,” he wrote.

In the days following the record admissions numbers — Saturday through Monday — Idaho reported 2,636 new COVID-19 cases and 37 COVID-related deaths. More than one-third of those cases — 976 — were in Ada County. Bannock (158), Bonneville (174), Canyon (230), Elmore (139), Kootenai (104) and Twin Falls (176) counties also reported caseloads in the triple digits.

Idaho has reported 252,375 cases since March 2020.

Of the 37 new reported deaths, 13 were in Kootenai County, which has reported 316 deaths over the duration of the pandemic. Other deaths were reported in Benewah (1 new, 16 total), Bonner (6 new, 68 total), Canyon (5 new, 399 total), Cassia (1 new, 31 total), Clearwater (2 new, 24 total), Idaho (1 new, 25 total), Madison (1 new, 34 total), Nez Perce (2 new, 83 total), Shoshone (2 new, 52 total), Twin Falls (2 new, 178 total) and Washington (1 new, 34 total) counties.

Since the start of the pandemic, 2,790 Idahoans have died of COVID-19. IDHW has reported 419 of those since the beginning of September.

To date, there have been 10,978 COVID-19-related hospitalizations, 1,834 admissions to an intensive care unit and 11,859 health care workers infected, according to state data. More than 124,000 people are presumed recovered.

For a county-by-county breakdown of new cases, see our “What we know” file at IdahoStatesman.com.