PHD: COVID deaths reach 66

The Panhandle Health District reported 67 new cases of the coronavirus and four more deaths due to it on Wednesday.

The PHD’s case count stands at 3,757, with 20 hospitalizations and a total of 66 deaths due to COVID-19. PHD reported 3,308 closed cases.

The Coeur d'Alene School District, per its website as of Wednesday, had 17 students and adults currently isolated after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Forty-five people connected to Lake City High School were instructed to quarantine Tuesday because they were in close contact with a student or staff member who has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the website.

For Monday, the website reported 27 people connected to Coeur d'Alene High School were instructed to quarantine.

Kootenai County had 2,930 cases and 42 deaths. It had 351 active cases, about .21 percent of the county's population.

Kootenai Health on Wednesday reported it had 17 patients with COVID and seven were in critical condition.

For the week ending Sept. 26, the state reported that 2,901 PCR tests were completed in the PHD, with a positivity rate of 7.5 percent, down from 8 percent the previous week, but up from a low of 4.3 percent for the week ending Aug. 29.

In the state, nearly 20,000 tests were given for the week ending Sept. 26, with a positivity rate of 9.4 percent, well up from 6.7 percent for the week ending Sept. 12

Health officials remind people, per the PHD mandate, to wear masks when in public and unable to maintain at least 6 feet from others, wash hands and sanitize often-used areas.

Several legislators recently penned a letter to the district asking it to change the mandate to a recommendation. The district's board did not act on the request.