COVID cases rising in North Idaho

COEUR d’ALENE — COVID-19 is on the rise in North Idaho.

“According to CDC data and wastewater trends, we are in the midst of a summer surge of cases,” wrote Katherine Hoyer, Panhandle Health District spokeswoman.

Kootenai Health has recently been seeing about 20 people per week with COVID, and about half require hospitalizations. 

In the past month, it had 78 patients test positive in the emergency department, and 44 were admitted, wrote Caiti Bobbitt, Kootenai Health spokeswoman. 

Hoyer said PHD continues to respond to health care facilities outbreaks, mostly assisted living, skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities.  

She said year-to-date, there have been 416 cases associated with health care facilities in the Panhandle. 

As of August 2023, COVID is only reportable when associated with health care facilities. 

The state has also seen a COVID rise. 

“We have observed an increase in COVID-19 ER visits since mid-June,” wrote AJ McWhorter, spokesman with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

According to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, on July 14, the most recent available, 57 people who visited an emergency department displayed symptoms of COVID-like illness.

Because Idaho no longer tracks individual cases, trends in how much the virus might be circulating in a community are now determined based on data such as detections of the virus in wastewater, McWhorter wrote. 

Wastewater data indicate a recent increase in the amount of SARS-CoV-2 virus, the virus that causes COVID, detected in wastewater in Idaho since mid-June, he wrote.

The CDC reported that Idaho’s respiratory illness level is “minimal.”  

According to the CDC, symptoms are much like a cold but can change with new COVID variants and can vary depending on vaccination status. Possible symptoms include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, headache, fatigue and nausea. 

Anyone who had COVID can return to normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, their symptoms are getting better overall, and they have not had a fever and are not using fever-reducing medication, according to the CDC. 

"When you go back to your normal activities, take added precaution over the next five days, such as taking additional steps for cleaner air, hygiene, masks, physical distancing and/or testing when you will be around other people indoors,” the CDC said.