A week of encouraging Idaho coronavirus trends

Idaho’s coronavirus trends all moved in the right direction last week.

New case numbers continued to head downward — across the state and in schools as well.

This week’s numbers:

Cases: A fourth consecutive weekly decrease.

The state and its health districts still added 9,131 cases last week, but that represents a 20% decrease.

The state has reported 423,756 confirmed or probable coronavirus cases.

Case backlog: Dwindling.

“Data for January are incomplete,” the state reported on its coronavirus website Sunday. “Due to the surge in cases Jan. 10-Feb. 5, approximately 17,000 outstanding positive laboratory results received during that time are pending local public health district review and followup.”

A week ago, the backlog was 25,700 cases.

Child cases: A fourth successive weekly decrease.

For the week ending Saturday, 1,332 school-age children contracted coronavirus, an 18% decrease.

By comparison, nearly 3,000 school-age children contracted coronavirus in the seven-day period ending Jan. 29.

Positive test rate: A fourth consecutive week of sharp decreases.

For the week ending Feb. 19, 10% of coronavirus tests came back positive, down from 16.4%.

As this rate continues to decline, it moves closer to the 5% mark — a threshold that suggests a virus is under control.

Hospitalizations: Another week of decreases across the board.

On Wednesday, Idaho reported 276 COVID-19 hospitalizations, a 27% decrease.

The state counted 62 ICU admissions, down 28%.

Six children were in pediatric beds with COVID-19, down from 10 the previous week.

Deaths: Also declining sharply.

While 54 Idahoans died of COVID-19 last week, that is a 56% decrease from the preceding week.

Idaho’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 4,730.

Vaccinations: Current vaccination rates, and weekly comparisons.

All Idahoans, ages 5 and up: 53.8%. (Last week, 53.6%.)
5- to 11-year-olds: 15%. (Unchanged.)
12- to 15-year-olds: 37%. (Unchanged.)
16- and 17-year-olds: 42%. (Unchanged.)
18- to 24-year-olds: 50% (Unchanged.)

Here are the latest booster shot rates:

All age groups: 43.9%. (Last week: 43.6%.)
12- to 15-year-olds: 13.9%. (Last week: 13.1%.)
16- and 17-year-olds: 21.1%. (Last week: 20.3%.)
18- to 24-year-olds: 19.8%. (Last week: 19.5%.)

K-12 thumbnails

Blaine County: Five active student cases last week. The district reported a total of six cases the previous week.
Boise: 53 positive cases last week, down from 69.
Bonneville: No new data available.
Coeur d’Alene: One district with an increase. 18 positive cases last week, up from 12.
Idaho Falls: One confirmed case for the week ending Feb. 18, down from five.
Kuna: 10 positive cases Friday, down from 23 the previous week.
Moscow: One new case last week, down from five.
Nampa: 13 cases last week, down from 29.
Pocatello-Chubbuck: Five cases reported Friday, two involving students. A decrease from a total of eight cases.
Twin Falls: No new data available.
West Ada: Two active cases, for a five-day period ending Sunday, down from four the previous week.

Higher education thumbnails

Boise State University: Seven cases, down from 44 cases the previous week. Of the new cases, five involved off-campus students and two involved faculty and staff. No students in campus isolation beds. No positive test results last week, from a total of 178 tests administered.
Brigham Young University-Idaho: One active case Sunday, involving an employee.
College of Eastern Idaho: Two cases, both involving students. CEI reported a total of six cases the previous week.
College of Idaho: Five cases in the past week, up from four the previous week. (229 for the year). One student in isolation off-campus.
College of Southern Idaho: Three new cases last week, two involving students. CSI reported a total of three new cases the previous week.
College of Western Idaho: No recent cases, down from five the previous week. (Monthly total: 16.)
Idaho State University: 17 cases for the week ending Tuesday, down from 37 the previous week. Fifteen current cases involve students.
Lewis-Clark State College: Two active student cases Friday, down from three the previous week.
North Idaho College: NIC is reporting no current cases.
Northwest Nazarene University: Two active cases reported last week, unchanged from the preceding week. One active case involves a student, the other involves an employee.
University of Idaho: Six reported cases for the week ending Feb. 18, down from 17 the previous week.