For the fourth successive week, Idaho has reported a record number of new coronavirus cases.
The state and its health districts reported 13,849 confirmed and probable cases on Friday, up from 10,045 cases a week ago.
That translates to a 38 percent increase, compared to 43 percent a week ago.
Ada and Canyon counties also posted one-week highs in new cases, accounting for more than two-thirds of new cases statewide.
In coronavirus headlines from the week:
Blended learning in 2020-21? As state and federal officials continue to push to reopen schools in the fall — and parents and teachers weigh the possible risks — the State Board of Education signed off on blended learning guidelines designed to help schools navigate an outbreak during the academic year.
“The virus will dictate how we deliver education in the fall,” State Board member Kurt Liebich said Wednesday. “All of us want kids back in school, but the reality is… you’re probably going to have to have the ability to deliver blended learning in a way that you weren’t prepared to deliver in the spring.”
Mask debates. Meanwhile, much of the coronavirus debate shifted to the local level.
The Central District Health board of directors approved a facemask mandate for Ada County Tuesday. Southwest District Health — which includes Canyon County — postponed a possible vote on a mask mandate after protesters demanded entry into a virtual meeting Thursday.
A work-from-home Legislature? The state will spend $1.24 million in federal money for technology upgrades that will allow lawmakers to work outside the Statehouse this year, and possibly in 2021.
Spring football. The coronavirus wiped out fall football season at The College of Idaho. On Friday, the college said it will move the football season to spring.
This week’s numbers:
| Statewide data | July 10 | July 17 | Change |
| Cases, confirmed and probable | 10,045 | 13,849 | 38 percent |
| Deaths | 101 | 118 | 17 percent |
| Hospitalizations | 449 | 570 | 27 percent |
| ICU admissions | 138 | 170 | 23 percent |
| Patients recovered | 3,066 | 3,827 | 25 percent |
| Tests completed | 121,640 | 141,636 | 16 percent |
| Health care workers infected | 708 | 855 | 21 percent |
| Positive test rate (approximate: some patients undergo multiple tests) | 8.3 percent | 9.8 percent | +1.5 percentage points |
| Cases in select counties | July 10 | July 17 | Change |
| Ada | 3,812 | 5,457 | 43 percent |
| Canyon | 1,777 | 2,834 | 59 percent |
| Kootenai | 663 | 966 | 46 percent |
| Twin Falls | 812 | 907 | 12 percent |
| Blaine | 548 | 555 | 1 percent |
| Cassia | 311 | 345 | 11 percent |
| Jerome | 289 | 345 | 19 percent |
| Minidoka | 253 | 293 | 16 percent |
| Bonneville | 177 | 265 | 50 percent |
| Payette | 166 | 228 | 37 percent |
| Bannock | 163 | 222 | 36 percent |
| Washington | 130 | 144 | 11 percent |
| Owyhee | 76 | 123 | 62 percent |
| Bingham | 94 | 122 | 30 percent |
| Elmore | 85 | 117 | 38 percent |
| Nez Perce | 108 | 116 | 7 percent |
