Panhandle Health District: Another death due to virus

No citations for violating mask mandate

Another Kootenai County resident has died due to the COVID-19, according to the Panhandle Health District.

That brings the total number of deaths in the PHD attributed to the coronavirus to 18, all over the age of 70. Two were in Shoshone County and the rest in Kootenai County.

There were 52 new cases reported Friday, bringing the total number of cases to 2,127. Of those, 40 are hospitalized within the district and eight are in critical care at Kootenai Health.

There are 807 active coronavirus cases in the district and 1,320 are closed.

PHD said Kootenai County has 1,755 cases, Bonner has 177, Shoshone has 87, Benewah 54 and Boundary 36.

Health officials remind residents to wear masks to help prevent the spread of the virus and keep medical facilities from being overcrowded with coronavirus patients.

Since the PHD board approved a mask mandate two weeks ago for Kootenai County, there have not been any citations issued by law enforcement to someone for not wearing a mask.

There have been a few confrontations over the issue circulating on social media.