COVID count climbs; 5 currently in hospital

COEUR d’ALENE — The Panhandle area has a total of 421 COVID-19 cases, including 36 new cases, as of Friday.

Kootenai County’s count rose to 357, an increase of 32 cases, but also more than double what it was a week ago.

Benewah County remained at 13 cases, Bonner County rose three to 36 while Boundary County and Shoshone County remained at one each, PHD said. There are 13 undetermined cases.

PHD said 128 cases are no longer being monitored and there has been a total of 20 hospitalizations with five currently hospitalized. There has been one death in Kootenai County.

PHD reported that 50 people age 18 and younger have had or have the coronavirus, 250 cases are people ages 19 to 49, and 121 are 50 and older.

By gender, 225 cases are female, while 196 are male.

The precautions for avoiding COVID-19 are the same as those for avoiding the flu and common cold.

Tracing remains a key to prevent spreading of the virus.

PHD said once it receives notification of a confirmed case from a lab, it connects with that individual to verify their information.

This can be difficult for a variety of reasons, a press release said.

“Contact tracing is voluntary and we rely on an individual’s willingness to participate. Information provided may be incomplete, incorrect, or not provided at all,” the release said. “Those experiencing homelessness or who are in a transient living situation are other possible reasons it may take longer to determine a primary county of residence.”

While the number of infections in the county is less than 0.25 percent of its population, the recent increase has raised concerns. Health officials say people should not be complacent and must be vigilant in practicing social distancing, sanitizing, hand washing and wearing a mask when in public.

COVID-19 testing is available in North Idaho and anyone who needs to be tested is encouraged to call their primary care provider or PHD’s hotline.

Info: panhandlehealthdistrict.org/covid-19 or call the PHD Hotline Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 877-415-5225.