No new COVID-19 cases reported in Kootenai County

No news is good news.

Panhandle Health District today reported no new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in its five-county region over the past 24 hours.

On Sunday, the public health agency reported five new cases, after no new cases had been confirmed the day before. That brings the total cases in the five northernmost counties to 44.

As of Monday afternoon, Kootenai County had 42 confirmed COVID-19 cases, and Bonner County had two. Shoshone, Boundary and Benewah counties have no confirmed cases.

None of the cases in North Idaho has required hospitalization, Panhandle said. Of the 44 total, 11 are no longer being monitored.

“We won’t use the term ‘recovered’ because that could be misleading as we don’t know if a person can contract COVID-19 more than once,” PHD spokesperson Katherine Hoyer said. “We prefer to use the term ‘no longer monitoring.’ A person is no longer being monitored when they have stayed home for our recommended period of time and have not had a fever for at least 72 hours (that is three full days of no fever without the use of medicine that reduces fevers) AND other symptoms have improved (for example, when your cough or shortness of breath have improved) AND at least 7 days have passed since your symptoms first appeared.”

Here’s a look at the Panhandle residents with COVID-19 by age group:

18 and under: 5

19 to 49: 18

50 and older: 21

And here’s a look at Panhandle residents with COVID-19 by sex:

Female: 18

Male: 26