New coronavirus cases continued to climb statewide last week, but cases slowed among school-age children.

The state reported more than 1,300 new cases last week — still a relatively low number compared to last fall’s delta variant surge and the winter’s record-setting omicron variant surge. Still, new cases increased by 27% last week.

Meanwhile, the state reported 86 new cases involving 5- to 17-year-olds, a 17% decrease.

• Numbers from the state’s largest school districts were mixed:
  Boise reported 74 cases last week, down from 98 cases the previous week.
• West Ada reported four active cases Sunday, up from one active case a week ago.
• Nampa reported six cases last week, unchanged from the previous week.

Other metrics worsened slightly.

On Wednesday, 55 Idahoans were hospitalized with COVID-19, up from 44 the previous week. Seven patients were in ICUs, down from seven the previous week. One COVID-19 pediatric patient was hospitalized.

For the week ending May 14, 5.5% of test results came back positive, up from 4.9%. A positive test rate exceeding 5% suggests a virus is spreading.