Kootenai County COVID-19 positivity rate rises for ninth-straight week

Kootenai County's positivity rate for COVID-19 climbed for its ninth straight week, according to the state's COVID-19 Dashboard o Thursday.

The rate of new cases in the county rose to 22.9% based on 411 PCR tests for the week ending June 19, its highest in nearly five months, according to the state's website. It was 3% on April 16.

The Panhandle Health District's positivity rate dipped to 20.8% based on 693 PCR tests. It was 22.5% the previous week, and 1.4% on March 26.

The PHD reported 319 new coronavirus cases in the last week, and one more death was attributed to the virus.

PHD reported 11 hospitalizations districtwide due to COVID-19.

Kootenai Health reported it had 11 COVID-19 patients with none in critical care on Tuesday. A hospital spokesperson said while they had COVID-19, that was not the primary reason for hospitalization.

Statewide, there were 126 hospitalized patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. That's the most since there were 134 on March 10.