It is no secret that COVID-19 is once again becoming more of a concern. According to the New York Times, “As of Sept. 1, 2021, there are 1,168 new COVID-19 cases in Idaho. When Idaho was at its peak in COVID-19 cases in December there were 2,266 new cases daily. This increase in cases can be attributed to people’s behavior.
“In areas where fewer people are wearing masks and more are gathering indoors to eat, drink, observe religious practices, celebrate and socialize, even with family, cases are on the rise,” said Senior Director of Infection Prevention at John Hopkins Hospital, Lisa Lockerd Maragakis.
These human behaviors, COVID-19 variants, and the number of people that are still unvaccinated can be attributed to the rise in cases not just in Idaho, but also nationally. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “The Delta variant causes more infections and spreads faster than earlier forms of the virus that causes COVID-19. It might cause more severe illness than previous strains in unvaccinated people.” There are four main variants of COVID-19, however, the Delta variant is the most concerning. According to the Southeastern Idaho Public Health Department, “Delta is one such variant, and it’s caused more than 80 percent of recent COVID-19 cases in the United States – according to estimates – and will likely cause more.”
According to the Idaho State Journal, Idaho Governor Brad Little recently deployed the National Guard to help short-staffed medical personnel “across the state with tasks such as screenings, lab work and other duties.”
“We’ve reached a point in the pandemic we have not been before…There are more Idahoans in the ICU than there have ever been before. The vast majority of them are unvaccinated,” said Little.
Currently, 822,979 Idahoans have received the vaccine, 87, 881 Idahoans have received one dose of a two-dose vaccine and 735,126 Idahoans are fully vaccinated. Overall there have been 1,496,593 total doses administered, but it doesn’t seem to be enough.
“On a daily call with hospitals this morning, we heard there are only four standard adult ICU beds available in the entire state,” Little said.
Little addressed the state of Idaho over a video conference. He talked about how COVID-19 is affecting Idaho and said, “We are dangerously close to activating statewide crisis standards of care, a historic step that means Idahoans in need of health care could receive a lesser standard of care or can be turned away altogether. In essence, someone would have to decide who can be treated and who cannot. This affects all of us, not just patients with COVID-19.”
Since the pandemic started there have been 2,380 deaths. Currently, there is an average of eight deaths a day, as opposed to 21 in December during the peak of the pandemic. The counties that are considered “hotspots” are Twin Falls, Shoshone, Clearwater, Lewis, Washington and Gooding County. If you have questions about COVID-19, you can call Southeastern Idaho Public Health at 208-234-5875 or visit their website at https://siphidaho.org/
