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Idaho bill appears to eliminate coronavirus as an emergency

The proposed law lists the minimum death rate for pandemics to be an emergency at 1.5%.
Credit: AP
Republican state Rep. Julianne Young addresses the House State Affairs Committee on Monday, Feb, 22, 2021, in the Statehouse in Boise, Idaho. The committee approved a measure defining pandemics that would appear to exclude the coronavirus pandemic as an emergency under the state's disaster preparedness act. (AP Photo/Keith Ridler)

Legislation defining pandemics that would appear to eliminate the coronavirus pandemic from qualifying as an emergency in Idaho is going to the House. 

The House State Affairs Committee approved the measure on Monday that changes a section of Idaho's State Disaster Preparedness Act by including for the first time epidemics and pandemics. 

The proposed law lists the minimum death rate for pandemics to be an emergency at 1.5%.

Idaho Department of Health and Welfare numbers show a coronavirus death rate of about 1% with about 1,800 dead. 

Johns Hopkins University lists the United State's overall coronavirus death rate at 1.8%, with nearly 500,000 recorded fatalities.

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