STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

COVID GRAPH BY PAUL RIES

You’re doing a tidbit better, Blaine County. But you still can’t relax when it comes to COVID.

Blaine County averaged 45.9 new cases per 100,000 between Nov. 22 and 28—better than the average of 53.4 new cases that was last reported. But its positivity rate has climbed to 15.4 percent, meaning the percentage of people testing positive is still way above the desired 5 percent positivity.

The county remains in the critical red zone, according to the Harvard Global Health metrics risk assessment scale. The scale recommends shelter-in-place and other measures when the percentage of cases are as high as Blaine County’s.

The local hospital has some capacity, but regional hospitals to which St. Luke’s Wood River sends its  sickest COVID patients and patients needing other specialized care are maxed out.

A few Hailey cafes have temporarily shut down because of COVID problems. And investigators are tracking three outbreaks at The Cove of Cascadia nursing home and Silver Creek assisted living home in Hailey.

Twenty-three persons between age 18 and 29 tested positive this past week, along with 15 between ages 50 and 59, 10 between 40 and 49 and nine 70 years and older. Eight persons between 30 and 39 tested positive with four between 60 and 69, three between 5 and 10, and one each in the 14-to-17-year and zero-to-4 years category.

No one between the ages of 11 and 13 tested positive.

GREENBERG PUSHES FOR MASK RECOMMENDATIONS

Against this backdrop Blaine County Commissioner Jacob Greenberg recently requested and received the backing of the Idaho Public Safety Communication Commission to recommend that people wear masks in public.

The IPSCC is recommending all persons 2 and older wear a mask when around those who don’t live in their household. Masks are a critical tool in preventing people who have COVID from spreading it to others, the commission said.

“Our first responders, fire, law and EMS are at risk from those not wearing masks,” said Greenberg, who serves on the commission. “Our health care systems are at a critical tipping point and we must act now.”

The commission includes representatives of the Association of Idaho Cities, the Idaho Association of Counties, the Idaho Sheriffs’ Association, the Idaho Chiefs of Police Association, the Idaho Fire Chiefs Association, the Idaho Health and Welfare Department’s state emergency medical services communications center and others.

CENTRAL DISTRICT HEALTH TO ADDRESS TOUGHER RESTRICTIONS

Dr. Ted Epperly, a Central District Health board member, is pressing for his health district to change its health advisory recommendations concerning COVID protocols to an order.

“We’ve got a major, imminent crisis on our hands. If we do not do this, we will lose the hospitals,” he said. “Hear me when I say that we will lose the hospitals, we will go on a total divert in the Treasure Valley. We already know Utah is not taking, Montana is not taking, Nevada is not taking. That means by plane we will have to transport people to Portland and to Seattle, and that’s for routine hospitalizations—not just COVID cases.”

The advisory, which will be discussed Friday, addresses wearing face masks, working from home if possible, implementing curbside services, virtual religious services, discontinuing sports and activities in which physical distancing is not possible and limiting capacity in gyms to 50 percent.

LISTEN IN ON THE VACCINE TALK

The Idaho COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Committee will meet from noon to 2 p.m. today—Friday, Dec. 4--via WebEx. Representatives plan to get an overview of BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccine studies and to vote on which populations should receive the vaccines first.

The public may listen in at https://idhw.webex.com/idhw/onstage/g.php?MTID=e3a3b4f86227a1cc3b1a0f17a5024c286

FROM BELGIUM TO PLEASANT PRAIRIE

Charter flights began bringing Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine from Belgium to Pfizer’s distribution center in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., on Black Friday. By early next year Pfizer and Moderna expect to ship about 70 million doses a month, federal vaccine official Moncef Slaoui told The Washington Post this week.

That means those over 65 could begin getting it by February, along with people with high-risk medical conditions and essential workers.

By March the United States could be getting 150 million vaccines a month if other companies get their vaccines approved. By April healthy nonessential workers younger than 65 should receive them. Experts say the vast majority of Americans could be vaccinated by June.

One exception to the second wave of vaccine recipients might be those who have already had the virus, presumably making them immune from it for a period of time, according to the New York Times.

Employees have the right to compel their workers to be vaccinated. Many hospital systems already require flu shots. But employees can seek exemptions for medical or religious reasons.

Britain greenlighted Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday and with that Brits should begin getting vaccinated within days. Nursing home residents, those over 80 and health care workers will be the first to receive the shot.

CDC RECOMMENDATIONS

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended Tuesday that health care workers and nursing home residents should be at the front of the line for the first COVID vaccine shots in the United States. Those two groups encompass 24 million of the nation’s 330 million people, according to the Associated Press.

About three million people living in long-term care facilities. They account for 6 percent of the nation’s infections and 39 percent of its deaths. Health care workers account for 12 percent of cases but only 0.5 percent of deaths. But experts say it’s important to keep them healthy so they can stay working.

Current estimates project that only about 40 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines will be available by the end of the year. With each requiring two doses that means about 20 million people will have the opportunity to get the initial vaccinations.

The committee’s recommendations are only that. Each state may decide whom should receive its vaccines. Each state may also further refine the guidelines—for instance, deciding to put emergency room doctors ahead of other health care workers if vaccine supplies are low.

And, yes, you will get a vaccination card. It’s designed to make sure you get the second dose at the right time and the right vaccine. But it might come in handy if asked to provide proof of vaccination for some businesses or others.

IDAHO RECORDS CONTINUE TO FALL

Idaho set another new record for the number of COVID-related deaths reported in a single day with 34 on Wednesday. The state also eclipsed 1,000 deaths.

That has kept a Boise woman busy planting orange flags memorializing Idahoans who have died to COVID in front of her Boise foothills home.

“I bought 1,200 flags and I didn’t think I’d be putting this many out every day,” Cindy Pollock told KTVB. Pollock said the ritual has made her less numb to all the numbers. She’s made it more personnel by adding the names of some.

More than 100,000 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in the United States on Thursday as the nation exceeded more than 217,000 new cases--a record high. And the nation had a record-high 3,157 COVID deaths on Wednesday as hospitals tried to coax doctors and nurses out of retirement. The previous high was 2,607 deaths recorded on April 15.

The United States was averaging fewer than 25,000 new cases a day following Memorial Day holiday. Hospitalized patients averaged fewer than 30,000 cases then.

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