Coronavirus-related deaths reach 293 in PHD

The number of deaths in the Panhandle Health District attributed to the coronavirus rose to 293 Thursday. Of those, 200 were in Kootenai County, and 281 were people age 60 and older.

The PHD reported 31 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday — 17 in Kootenai County — bringing its total cases to 23,199.

The state’s coronavirus positivity rate declined to 4.8% based on 23,775 PCR tests for the week ending April 10. PHD’s ticked upward to 5.1%, while Kootenai County’s remained under 5% at 4.8%.

According to the state’s website, 29,143 PHD residents age 65 and over are fully vaccinated, which is 57% of the district’s population in that age group.

Of those in PHD’s 16-64 age group, 25,446 have completed their vaccinations, which is 17.1% of the population in that age group.

While PHD lifted its mask mandate last month, health officials still recommend wearing masks indoors when indoors or in crowds, maintain social distance, and washing hands often to help prevent the spread of the virus.