Idaho’s COVID-19 hospitalizations down 27% since late September, but caseload still high

While crisis standards of care are still activated in Idaho’s hospitals, there are positive signs emerging from the latest COVID-19 hospitalization data compiled by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has dropped by nearly 27% since peaking at 793 patients on Sept. 24. As of Monday, there were 581 individuals hospitalized statewide. ICU numbers have also decreased, but by a smaller margin of about 20% since a peak of 213 patients on Sept. 24. Monday’s ICU total was 171.

St. Luke’s Health System, which provides a snapshot of its daily hospitalization data online, continues to show that the majority of its admitted COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated. On Tuesday, St. Luke’s had 148 COVID-19 patients, 81.08% of whom were unvaccinated. Of the 30 patients in the ICU, 96.67% were not vaccinated.

Despite the decline in hospitalizations, Health and Welfare reported 1,548 new cases and 30 new deaths Wednesday. The state’s case backlog dropped from approximately 3,700 through Tuesday to 3,200 on Wednesday. Idaho’s seven-day moving average has stayed above 1,000 cases per day for 41 consecutive days.

Of the 30 new coronavirus-related deaths added Wednesday, 12 were in Ada County, five were in Canyon County and 13 other counties reported one death apiece. According to updated demographics from Health and Welfare, the deaths included one individual in their 30s, two in their 40s, four in their 50s, six in their 60s, nine in their 70s and eight who were 80 or older.

Idaho has lost 3,346 residents to COVID-related causes during the pandemic, with a case fatality rate of about 1.19%.

Ada, Canyon and Kootenai counties saw the largest case increases Wednesday, adding 452, 239 and 205, respectively.

Idaho’s COVID-19 test positivity rate, which is updated on Thursdays, has decreased each of the past four weeks from a high of 17.3% for Sept. 5-11 to 13.2% for Oct. 3-9. However, a rate below 5% shows control over the spread of the virus, and the rate for all seven public health districts remains above 10%.

Nationwide, 66.9% of Americans age 12 and older are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Idaho, only 54% of eligible individuals are fully vaccinated, which is the second-lowest rate in the nation.