Idaho adds more than 1,200 new COVID-19 cases, 28 deaths on Wednesday

Rachel Roberts
·2 min read

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare reported 1,244 new COVID-19 cases and 28 new deaths on Wednesday.

With the additional 28 deaths, including one individual between the ages of 18 to 29, Idaho has now lost 3,501 residents to the virus. According to updated demographics from Health and Welfare, the other deaths included three individuals in their 40s, four in their 50s, five in their 60s, six in their 70s and nine who were 80 or older.

Multiple deaths were added in Ada (5 new, 768 total), Bannock (2 new, 180 total), Bingham (2 new, 118 total), Bonner (3 new, 97 total) and Canyon (8 new, 507 total) counties, while Blaine, Clearwater, Elmore, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, Payette and Twin Falls each reported one.

The Gem State’s case fatality rate is about 1.21%.

After a peak of 793 hospitalized COVID-19 patients on Sept. 24, Idaho’s hospitalization total has stayed below 600 since Oct. 15. As of Monday, there were 524 patients hospitalized statewide with COVID-19, including 146 in intensive care.

Seven Idaho children are currently hospitalized with the virus, which can cause multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), where different body parts become inflamed, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes or gastrointestinal organs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since the start of the pandemic, 252 Idaho children have been hospitalized, and 34 have been diagnosed with MIS-C, but no one younger than 18 has died in Idaho.

St. Luke’s Health System, which was still operating at 130% capacity last week as hospitals remain under crisis standards of care, currently has 125 admitted COVID-19 patients, including 30 in the ICU. Unvaccinated patients make up 88.8% of those hospitalized and 96.67% of those in the ICU at St. Luke’s.

Three counties saw their caseload increase by triple digits Wednesday: Ada (298), Canyon (212) and Kootenai (138).

To date, Idaho has reported 288,921 cases, with 128,430 estimated to have recovered from the virus. Among the 826,587 Idahoans who are fully vaccinated, 13,285 (4.6%) have experienced a breakthrough infection.

For a county-by-county breakdown of Wednesday’s new cases and deaths, see our “What we know” file at IdahoStatesman.com.