‘Standard of care is being eroded’: Idaho adds 8,633 COVID cases, 153 deaths this week

With Idaho hospitals in dire straits, COVID-19 infection and death numbers keep rising.

This week, Idaho added 8,633 new cases and 153 deaths, according to data from the Department of Health and Welfare.

The large caseloads highlight a surge that began in July and has not slowed down in one of the nation’s most poorly vaccinated states — pushing past the previous hospitalization and intensive care unit records, and threatening to do the same with caseloads.

The state’s test positivity rate rose to 16.9% for the week of Sept. 5, the highest it’s been this year.

For the first time in state history, Idaho activated a measure allowing hospitals to ration care this week, called crisis standards of care. And on Friday, two major Treasure Valley hospital systems — Saint Alphonsus Health System and St. Luke’s Health System — announced that they were pausing employee vaccine mandates simply because they are desperate for people to work and take care of the hundreds of unvaccinated ill people.

Also on Friday, Boise State University announced it would be requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test before students could enter Albertsons Stadium for Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State. Next week, that mandate is expected to include all fans. The stadium seats over 36,000.

As of Friday, there were only nine available intensive care unit beds in the state, according to Health and Welfare.

As of Sept. 15, the most recent date available, there were 708 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, nearly 43% more than during last winter’s peak. There were also 184 patients in an intensive care unit.

Since last week, the state recorded more than 1,200 new COVID-19 cases tied to long-term care facilities.

On Friday, the governor and other state leaders sent a letter to President Joe Biden threatening “legal actions” over federal vaccine requirements for large businesses. Gov. Little has not enacted statewide mask mandates, limits on large gatherings or vaccination requirements. He has urged Idahoans to get vaccinated so that the state can deal with the cascading crisis.

Statewide, only 50.6% of Idahoans 12 or older are fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in the country.

Since the start of the pandemic, Idaho has recorded 10,580 hospitalizations, 1,757 intensive care unit patients and 11,764 infected health care workers.

“We will do and are doing everything possible to ensure we’re providing safe and effective care, but the standard of care is being eroded,” said Chris Roth, president and CEO of St. Luke’s, at a press conference on Thursday.

LONG-TERM CARE UPDATE

As of Friday, Health and Welfare reports that there are 5,361 active coronavirus cases among 127 facilities, which is 1,202 more than the 4,159 reported on Sept. 10. There are 209 facilities with resolved outbreaks.

To date, 835 people from 187 facilities in Idaho have died from COVID-19-related causes — seven more than were reported last Friday. Long-term care deaths account for about 32% of the 2,600 deaths in the state.

The most recent data from Health and Welfare show that 76.8% of Idahoans age 65 and older have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Below is a list of Idaho cities along with with the number of facilities in each city that have active cases of the coronavirus 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), Blackfoot (2), Boise (Coeur d’Alene (1), Boise (25), Buhl (2), Burley (2), Caldwell (2), Chubbuck (1), Coeur d’Alene (9), Eagle (2), Emmett (4), Fruitland (1), Garden City (1), Hayden (2), Idaho Falls (5), Jerome (2), Kimberly (1), Kuna (2), Lewiston (6), Meridian (15), Montpelier (2), Moscow (4), Nampa (8), Orofino (1), Payette (1), Pinehurst (1), Pocatello (8), Post Falls (2), Preston (1), Rexburg (1), Rigby (1), Rupert (1), Salmon (1), Sandpoint (2), Star (1), Twin Falls (7), Weiser (1), Winchester (1).

Visit coronavirus.idaho.gov for a complete list of long-term facilities with active cases this week.

WEEKLY SNAPSHOT

Vaccine doses administered in Idaho: 1,555,527, according to Health and Welfare. Of those, 764,105 people have been fully vaccinated, which accounts for 50.6% of Idahoans age 12 and older.

Test positivity rate: Out of the 40,309 COVID-19 tests conducted for the week of Sept. 5 - Sept. 11, 16.9% came back positive.