Idaho hospitals running out of COVID patients

COEUR d'ALENE — The number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Idaho is at its lowest point in nearly two years.

Kootenai Health was down to six COVID-19 patients on Thursday, with none in critical care.

In October, Kootenai Health reached a high of 150 COVID patients and 43 in critical care.

Statewide, COVID-19 hospitalizations totaled 47 on April 4. It reached a high of nearly 800 in late September.

The Panhandle Health District, meanwhile, reported just 12 new cases on Thursday and no longer has any backlogged cases, while the state reported 61 new cases.

PHD at one point of the omicron surge, was reporting hundreds of new cases daily, and the state, thousands.

Meanwhile, coronavirus positivity rates ticked up in the state and North Idaho.

Kootenai County's positivity rate rose to 3.5% based on 452 PCR tests as of April 2. Two weeks ago, it hit a low of 0.9%

PHD's positivity rate was at 2.4% based on 741 PCR tests, up from last week's low of 1.3%.

The state's positivity rate was 1.8% based on 13,535 PCR tests, a slight increase from 1.5% the last two weeks.

State health officials have repeatedly said the goal was a 5% positivity rate.

Statewide, 54% of the population over the age of 5 years old is fully vaccinated, down from 70% in that age group nationwide.

In Kootenai County, 47% of the eligible population, 71,146, is fully vaccinated, but only 2,766 of those have been this year, and just 621 in the county have been fully vaccinated since March 1.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare ended COVID-19 media briefings last month and state health officials are no longer urging people to get vaccinated or boosted, but it is mentioned on the state's COVID-19 website.

The PHD attributes 946 deaths in the five northern counties to COVID-19. Of those, 857,or 91%, were people over the age of 60, while 10 COVID-related deaths, 1%, were under the age of 40.