STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Health officials in Southwest Idaho will hold a press conference today to urge Idahoans to take immediate action against the further spread of COVID-19 before it is too late.
Local hospitals are not yet overwhelmed, but leaders are deeply concerned by the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases in Idaho.
Health care organizations cannot meet the current testing demands, and hospitals in the Treasure Valley are considering whether to begin postponing elective surgeries and other services once again to ensure adequate intensive care beds.
The press conference will feature the president, CEOs and chief medical officers from Saint Alphonsus, St. Luke’s Health Systems, West Valley Medical Center, Primary Health Medical Group and Saltzer Health.
Idaho recorded 500 new cases of coronavirus on Monday, taking it to 11,402 statewide. The state posted 577 new cases on Saturday, July 11, and 500 on Thursday, July 9.
The state had just 3,220 cases a month ago.
Hospitalizations and deaths have been increasing, as well. Among the latest: A young nurse practitioner on the St. Luke’s Children team in Caldwell, who died from COVID-19 over the weekend. She left behind a husband and four children.
Cases have also ramped up along the Idaho-Oregon border as Malheur County—home to Ontario, Ore.-- has become Oregon’s latest hot spot, in part because of a hundred-plus positive cases at the Snake River Correctional Institution.
Blaine County gained one new case on Monday, bringing its total to 551. Twin Falls County got 23 new cases bringing its total to 853, while Cassia County reported 38 new cases, Jerome County 37 and Minidoka, 29.
Ada County reported 220 new case and Canyon County, 90.
In brighter news, New York City did not report a single death due to COVID-19 on Saturday for the first time since March.
POSTPONE THAT TRIP TO BANFF
Canadians overwhelmingly want to see the border with the United States remain closed during the coronavirus pandemic.
The border between Canada and the United States was closed on March 21 to stop the transmission of COVID-19. The closure is set to expire in July 21, but 81 percent of Canadians polled by Nanos Research said they want to see it remain closed.
More than a quarter of the 12.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide are in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University. Nearly a quarter of the 577,000 who have died are Americans.
British Columbia has seen just over 3,000 cases and 186 deaths.
FOUR FOOTBALL FIELDS WORTH OF MASKS
Two Middleton schoolteachers have used over four football fields of fabric as they’ve sewn more than 10,000 masks. The women started making the masks March 20 and have not only equipped friends and family but have sent them to the Navajo Nation, a VA center, nursing homes, massage schools, Saint Alphonsus hospital and local businesses, reports KTVB.
Their masks are in 18 states, including Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado, Washington and Texas. And three countries, including Germany and Japan.
They got a brief respite when COVID cases were low but they’ve ramped back up as cases have surged.
KIDS PUZZLE COVID RESEARCHERS
American children make up 22 percent of the population but are believed to make up only 2 percent of coronavirus cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
It’s a headscratcher, especially since children are usually the first to catch respiratory viruses, said Dr. C. Buddy Creech, an associate professor of pediatrics in an NBC News story.
NEARLY HALF ARE ASYMPTOMATIC
The Centers for Disease Control now estimates that 40 percent of those infected with coronavirus show no symptoms.
YOU’LL GET A CHARGE OUT OF GETTING TOO CLOSE!
A pub in Cornwall, England, has put up an electric fence used to restrict livestock at its bar counter to help patrons maintain a safe distance from bartenders. The fence can be switched on and off as needed.
The pub’s owner, who is also a farmer, told South West News Service that before the fence people were not following social distancing but doing as they pleased.