STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
COVID GRAPH BY PAUL RIES
The Senior Connection is closing for two weeks out of caution due to the uptick in COVID-19 cases in Blaine County.
The Senior Connection COVID Task Force elected to close the center beginning today—Wednesday, Oct. 21. It will remain closed for a minimum of two weeks.
The decision came as Idaho announced a stunning 20 positivity rate, meaning one in five of every test given for COVID is positive. Below 5 percent is the goal.
“The current uptick in COVID-19 cases and the county’s critical risk level are concerning factors,” said Jovita Pina, The Connection's associate executive. “Amongst certain populations, the risk is greater and that includes the population we serve and who we must protect. This decision was not made lightly as we certainly recognize the collateral affects this decision will have on our seniors’ social, emotional, and physical wellness.”
The Senior Connection will continue to provide meals through home delivery or curbside pickup Mondays through Fridays. Meals are $5 and financial assistance is available. To arrange for a meal, call The Connection at 208-788-3468.
The Senior Connection Friends Line will also be available from 2 to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at 208-788-3468 for those with questions or who just want someone to talk to.
The situation is fluid and the Task Force will re-evaluate the situation two weeks from now.
“We have a five-month proven track record of operating during a pandemic and we are hopeful we can get through this closure too,” Pina said. “We need to put safety first, stay cautious and help to prevent the community spread of COVID-19.
ARGYROS POSTPONES
The Argyros Center for the Performing Arts, which had already postponed a few events including a Young Dubliners concert, announced Tuesday they would postpone the Rock’ N Bingo Night on Thursday, as well as Martin Scorsese’s “Shine a Light” movie on Friday, Oct. 23.
And Sun Valley Opera elected to postpone the Cecilia Violetta Lopez concert that had been scheduled for Nov. 2.
HOSPITAL MAXXED OUT
Magic Valley may have to begin transferring patients to other hospitals, according to Dr. Joshua Kern, vice president of medical affairs for St. Luke’s Magic Valley and Wood River. The hospital has more than 40 COVID-19 patients in the hospital--a quarter of all patients, and some off its staff is sick with COVID.
In response, the hospital has cancelled elective surgeries that require patients to spend the night in the hospital.
Every single county within South Central Public Health District’s oversight, including Camas, is currently considered a hot spot. The one exception: Blaine County, which is in the orange rather than red category for community transmission.
HOSPITALS UNDER STRESS
Idaho had about 225 COVID-19 patients—with a record high 61 in intensive care on Friday. Headlines from newspapers around the state, including Twin Falls, Pocatello and Idaho Falls, have talked of hospitals pushed to their limits.
The state gained 873 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday for a total of 54,663 officially counted cases since mid-March. At least 531 Idahoans have died of COVID with four new deaths reported Tuesday.
Blaine County jumped to 831 cases with 18 new cases.
COVID DEATHS LIKELY HIGHER THAN REPORTED
Health officials say that up to nearly 1,000 more Idahoans have died since the coronavirus surfaced than in a normal year. The state estimates that 861 more Idahoans died between January and September 2020 than died on average during those months in the past three years. But only 447 of those deaths were officially recorded as COVID-19.
It’s possible some of the deaths can be explained by the state’s increase in population. But that can’t possibly account for all of them, according to the Idaho Statesman.
Nationally, the number of COVID-related deaths have held at a steady 700 a day since mid-September. The high point came in late April with more than 2,000 a day.
MASS SICK-OUT OVER IN-PERSON SCHOOLING
West Ada School District cancelled school after it was unable to find enough substitutes to cover for 700 teachers who called out sick for a mass sick-out on Monday. Teachers staged the mass sick-out after the district’s trustees voted to start in-person/online learning that day. Teachers protested that the district is in the red category, meaning there’s significant community spread of the coronavirus within the community.
Central District Health recommended Ada County schools proceed with in-person school using alternative day scheduling to promote distancing.
COVID GROWS AMMON’S ARMY
Ammon Bundy has exploited COVID-19 fears to build a dangerous network of militia members and other far-right factions, according to a report by two groups that track extremism.
Ammon Bundy, who led the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016, began building the People’s Rights network in March, according to the report by the Institute of Research and Education on Human Rights and the Montana Human Rights Network.
Ammon’s Army, as it’s been dubbed, has grown to more than 20,000 militia members, anti-maskers, conspiracy theorists, preppers and anti-vaxxers. Bundy told the Idaho State Journal that that report was nonsense—he has 40,000 members.
Bundy told his army at one meeting that if government officials attempt to enforce laws his group doesn’t like, People’s Rights is prepared to adopt a violent posture.
They would be like “a den of rattlesnakes,” he added.
They’ve already sent a “Petition to Cease and Desist and Demand to Restore the Republic” to Idaho legislators calling for an end to COVID-19 restrictions.
IDAHO: THE WORK-FROM-HOME STATE?
Boise has been named a top location for people who want to establish a new work-from-home residence, according to Airbnb. Eighty-three percent of those who took the survey were in favor of relocating now that they can work from any place.
Others in the top 10 “trending destinations” are Park City, Utah; Santa Fe, N.M., Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Truckee, Calif.; Durham, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; Greenville, S.C.; Indianapolis, Ind., and Fort Walton, Fla.
Boise is also No. 2 on WalletHub’s best place to take a Staycation.
Coronavirus case numbers for Idaho school-aged children have doubled in two months, exceeding even the state’s rapid increase in cases, according to Kevin Richert of IdahoEdNews. As of Tuesday, Oct. 13, the state reported 4,270 COVID cases involving 5- to 17-year-old children. It had 103 cases last week and 51 the week before.
DOES YOUR BLOOD TYPE LIKE COVID?
Two more studies show that those with blood type O may be less vulnerable to COVID-19, thereby having a reduced likelihood of getting severely ill.
A Danish study of 7,500 people who tested positive for the virus showed that only 38 percent had blood type O even though the blood type makes up nearly 42 percent of the population. By contrast 44.4 percent of those with Type A tested positive while that population makes up 42.4 percent of the population, according to CNN.
In another study, researchers in Canada found that 84 percent of those with type A or AB required mechanical ventilation compared with 61 percent of those with O or B. It also found that those with type A or AB spent a median of 13.5 days in the intensive care unit, compared with nine days for those with O or B.
Of course, more research is needed, and scientists say this does not give those with Type O a free pass to head to the pubs.