Idaho’s COVID-19 week: Omicron found in Moscow wastewater, positivity rate declines

Only one case of omicron, the new variant causing cases to spike in many parts of the world, has been identified in Idaho, but evidence indicates that it is already spreading.

In addition to genomic sequencing performed by the state to identify variants, some cities in Idaho engage in wastewater sampling to look for evidence of the virus.

The city of Moscow announced Friday that omicron has been found in its wastewater.

“(North Central) Public Health has received no confirmation of the omicron variant in human lab samples,” said Carol Moehrle, the health district’s director, in a release. “However, with other cases of omicron in the Northwest and Boise area, we know it is just a matter of time before it is lab-confirmed as well. Because it is not feasible to test every lab specimen for COVID variants, it could be possible that a case could go unnoticed or that a 2-3-week delay to obtain genetic sequencing could preclude knowing about a current COVID-19 variant immediately.”

During a virtual panel hosted by the Idaho Statesman on Friday, Dr. Christine Hahn, Idaho’s state epidemiologist, said the new variant appears to be more transmissible and evades some of the vaccines’ transmission protection, but that its severity is still unknown.

“I think people are fairly confident it doesn’t appear to be any worse than delta,” she said, while noting that data on its severity from other countries may not apply to the U.S., which has different demographics and has experienced different COVID-19 waves.

“I would just want to be cautious not to be too over the top (about saying) that this is going to be a mild infection for almost everyone. We aren’t sure about that yet.”

Preliminary data also suggest that booster doses will help shore up the body’s vaccine-induced defenses against the disease, which are somewhat eroded by omicron, Hahn said.

“Omicron is suggesting how important it is for folks to get the booster and not only rely on just the primary series,” she said of vaccinations.

On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved to recommend Americans get a two-dose vaccine — Moderna or Pfizer — over the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of very rare but significant health concerns about the one-shot vaccine.

Hahn said that Idahoans who got the J&J shot months ago should not worry about a blood-clot disorder that has been linked to a few dozen cases and nine deaths, saying the rare condition has a rapid onset.

“This is a much more immediate side effect,” she said. “It does not occur months later.”

Hahn recommended that J&J recipients get a booster with Pfizer or Moderna, while stressing the overall safety of the vaccines. She noted that some vaccine misinformation being circulated asserts that “we’re not paying attention to all these deaths and nobody’s tracking it,” she said.

“This change in recommendation was based on nine deaths that were confirmed to be linked to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine ... after millions of doses” were administered, she said.

About 16 million people have received the J&J shot, according to CDC data.

“That was enough for (the CDC committee) to meet in emergency session yesterday,” she said.

On Tuesday, Dr. Kathryn Turner, state deputy epidemiologist, said that higher vaccination rates among older Idahoans is likely the cause of a dramatically decreased death rate at long-term care facilities.

From April through November of 2020, the COVID-19 death rate at long-term care facilities was around 3%. Over the same period in 2021, after vaccines were widely available, the death rate at those same facilities decreased to 1.3%, and the overall infection rate declined to less than one in ten.

“It’s likely the relatively higher vaccination rates for older adults in Idaho (that) are behind the decline in mortality among these residents,” she said.

Around 73% of Idahoans 85 or older are fully vaccinated, according to state data, and 77% of those 75 to 84 are. Among the older-than-65 population, 75.5% of Idahoans are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 death rates among Idaho’s seniors have decreased by 45% since last year, Turner said.

Idaho cases, deaths

Idaho has added 2,291 cases since Dec. 10, for a total of 313,810 since March 2020. The state also recorded 40 fatalities this week, for a total of 4,068 COVID-19-related deaths.

After declining steeply for much of November, the state’s COVID-19 test positivity rate rose slightly for the weeks of Nov. 21 and Nov. 28, according to state data. For the week beginning Dec. 5, the most recent data available, it fell again, from 7.3% to 6.5%.

As of Wednesday, there were 302 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, and 94 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units.

There have been 13,822 COVID-19-related hospitalizations and 2,327 intensive care unit patients since the start of the pandemic.

Long-term care update

As of Friday, Health and Welfare reports that there are 5,533 active coronavirus cases among 101 long-term care facilities. There are 250 facilities with resolved outbreaks.

To date, 1,009 people from 218 facilities in Idaho have died from COVID-19-related causes — four more than were reported last Friday. Long-term care deaths account for about 25% of the 4,068 in the state.

Below is a list of Idaho cities along with the number of facilities in each city that have active cases among residents and/or staff. For an outbreak to be considered “resolved,” more than 28 days must pass (two incubation periods) without any additional cases associated with the facility.

American Falls (1), Ashton (1), Bannock (1), Blackfoot (2), Boise (21), Bonners Ferry (3), Buhl (1), Caldwell (2), Chubbuck (1), Coeur d’Alene (10), Eagle (2), Emmett (1), Hayden (1), Idaho Falls (3), Kellogg (1), Kootenai (1), Kuna (2), Lewiston (3), McCall (1), Meridian (11), Middleton (1), Montpelier (1), Mountain Home (2), Nampa (3), Payette (2), Pinehurst (1), Pocatello (4), Post Falls (4), Rathdrum (1), Sandpoint (4), Silverton (1), St. Maries (1), Star (1), Twin Falls (3), Weiser (2), Winchester (1)

Weekly snapshot

Vaccine doses administered in Idaho: 2,088,860, according to Health and Welfare. Of those, 881,270 people have been fully vaccinated, which accounts for 56.5% of Idahoans age 12 and older.

Test positivity rate: Out of the 26,319 COVID-19 tests conducted for the week of Dec. 5-Dec. 11, 6.5% came back positive.

For a full list of daily numbers on a county-by-county basis, visit our “What We Know” story. The Statesman will host a live virtual panel about omicron and COVID-19 in Idaho on Dec. 17.