COVID-19 fading in North Idaho

The Panhandle Health District reported just five new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, while Kootenai Health reported it had just one COVID patient as the virus continues to fade in North Idaho.

Kootenai County's positivity rate for the coronavirus dropped to 2.7% based on 301 PCR tests for the week ending April 16. It was 3.9% the previous week, according to the state's COVID-19 Dashboard.

The PHD's positivity rate was 2.6% based on 460 PCR tests, down slightly from 2.8%, while the state's was 2.2% based on 10,795 PCR tests.

Health officials have long said 5% was the goal.

For the county, PHD and state, the positivity rates and number of tests are the lowest in nearly two years.

Statewide hospitalizations due to COVID totaled 36 on Monday, the lowest since May 24, 2020.

For the month of April, the PHD has on reported on its website only 72 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths attributed to the coronavirus.