STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTO BY ANNELIESE TURCK

Idaho schools will receive 530,000 rapid antigen tests sometime in the next three months, Idaho Gov. Brad Little said Thursday.

The distribution will start with 35,000 that was shipped to Idaho on Thursday.

The announcement during an afternoon press conference came just ahead of a blood red Harvest Moon rising over the foothills near Gannett, It came as Idaho's colleges, including University of Idaho, Boise State University and Brigham Young-Idaho, have been struggling with spikes among student populations.

And it came just hours before 11 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time when the news would ripple around the world that President Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Little also announced that the state is on track to submit a plan to the federal government concerning who gets a COVID-19 vaccine first when one is ready.

Little said he is assembling an Idaho COVID-19 vaccine advisory committee to prioritize who gets a COVID vaccine first when one becomes available.  The state plans to submit a distribution plan to the federal government by Oct. 16.

"The availability of a safe, effective COVID-19 vaccine is one of the biggest hurdles in getting our lives closers to normal," he said.

But Little said he will not mandate vaccinations so it remains to be seen how many will actually get it. Idaho has one of the poorest rates of vaccines in the United States for such diseases as measles.

Little also announced Idaho will remain in Stage 4 of the Idaho Rebounds COVID reopening plan for at least two more weeks. But he emphasized that Idaho is open for business.

"I often hear and read, 'Open up, Idaho!' Idaho is open and has been for months," he said.

Idaho has failed to advance out of Stage 4 for eight straight times over the past four months. It is currently going through what some health officials are calling a third wave of COVID cases with a seven-day moving average of new confirmed cases reaching 485.4. On Thursday alone 513 new cases were reported, bringing the state's total to 42,561.

The state has tallied 472 COVID-related deaths. And its test positivity rate, which should be below 5 to be considered good, has been 9.4 percent from Sept. 20-26, up from 7.9 percent the week before.

Blaine County has been going through its own surge with 69 cases in the past two weeks. On Thursday it reported four new cases for a total of 687 since mid-March.

A daily average of 42 patients statewide have been in ICUs for the past two weeks. And more than 20 COVID patients are being admitted to the state's hospitals daily.