BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) held its weekly media briefing to discuss the status of COVID-19 in the Gem State, Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
Officials announced that they're happy to see numbers declining, but still say the daily case counts are too high.
“I'm cautiously optimistic that things are better; it feels better, hospitals seem less stressed, cases are going down.” Administrator for the Division of Public Health, Elke Shaw-Tulloch said, “it definitely feels better, but I use the caution piece in that we still have pockets where we need to be cautious.”
During the last meeting, DHW officials said the data is trending down in regards to daily cases, but are still very high when compared to reported cases at the start of the pandemic.
"Some communities in Idaho continue to have high rates of illness and hospitalization, and we really need to pay attention to those areas to take those preventative measures, such as getting vaccinated, wearing our masks when it's appropriate, and social distancing," Shaw-Tulloch said, "those are all still very helpful measures to continue to further reduce the impact of COVID-19 in the state."
IDHW officials say they will continue to work with the CDC and communicate any further changes with the public.
"Our goal is always to provide the most accurate information, in the most understandable way possible," IDHW Director, Dave Jeppesen said.
Nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, Idaho saw new daily case numbers surge at the end of January to the highest they have been since the state's first case was confirmed.
According to IDHW, PCR testing positivity rate for Idaho was a record-high 32.0% for the week of Jan. 23 - Jan. 29. For the week of Jan. 30 - Feb. 5, the testing positivity rate fell to 25.1%, and it was just 10.0% last week, Feb. 13-19.
IDHW is now working to provide greater access and public awareness of the availability of COVID treatments.
"As case counts go down, as you can imagine, the demand is going down," State Epidemiologist, Dr. Christine Hahn said, "We're really pleased that right now, I think we've flipped from three to four weeks ago of still having a shortage of product, to where we feel that we're now closer to being able to meet the needs out there."
IDHW confirmed Tuesday, Feb. 15, that crisis standards of care had been deactivated in three Idaho health districts. Crisis standards of care are no longer active anywhere in Idaho, but due to a high testing positivity rate still in place, "we are not out of the woods yet," Jeppesen said.
On Monday, Feb. 28, there were 1,297 reported new cases and 21 new deaths in Idaho. Since the start of the pandemic, Idaho has reported 4,751 COVID-related deaths and 426,164 total confirmed and probable cases.
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In the fall of 2021, Idaho health officials attributed the fourth wave of the virus to low vaccination rates and the Delta COVID-19 variant, which became the dominant variant in Idaho. As 2022 began, the Omicron variant surged.
Idaho health officials stressed the importance of getting vaccinated and receiving booster shots to combat the Omicron variant in the previous briefing.
IDHW officials in attendance at the briefing include DHW Director Dave Jeppesen; Administrator for the Division of Public Health, Elke Shaw-Tulloch; State Epidemiologist, Dr. Christine Hahn; Deputy State Epidemiologist, Dr. Kathryn Turner; Chief of the Idaho Bureau of Laboratories, Dr. Christopher Ball; and Sarah Leeds, manager of the Idaho Immunization Program.
At KTVB, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the virus. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: www.ktvb.com/coronavirus.
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