Gov. Brad Little announced Idaho will move to Stage Four of the Idaho Rebounds reopening program in a press conference today. The decision to do so was a close call, however, due to a spike in cases among healthcare workers and other relevant data.
“We almost did not make it to stage four this week,” Little said. “Despite our incredible progress, there are still some in Idaho who are not practicing measures to keep themselves and others safe. Even if contracting COVID-19 is low on your personal concerns, I urge you to practice safe measures to protect others.”
Starting Saturday, employers will be allowed to resume staffing their businesses as usual. Little said he encourages teleworking when possible, but stage four does not require businesses to do so. Special accommodations for vulnerable employees should be made, according to the Idaho Rebounds website.
Visits to senior living facilities and congregate facilities like jails will be able to resume with guidelines in place to protect those in the facilities, the employees and visitors. Nightclubs and large venues, like sporting arenas, will be allowed to open.
Gatherings of over 50 people will be allowed if precautions are observed and non-essential to locations without ongoing COVID-19 transmission will be allowed. Individuals and employers should follow state and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines about isolation following travel, the Idaho Rebounds website stated.
State epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn reviewed the types of criteria Idaho uses to determine movement through the Idaho Rebounds plan in detail during the last Idaho Rebounds press conference. There are three types of criteria: epidemiologic, syndromic and healthcare-related.
According to the data Hahn shared this week, the number of reported cases between May 27 and June 9 trended downward. A surge of confirmed cases in early June affected the data, but this could be attributed to an increase in testing, Hahn said. This increase in testing may have also affected the percent of positive diagnostic tests, which also saw a downward trend.
The number of emergency department (ED) patients with COVID-like illnesses admitted to the hospital trended downwards. The trend in number of ED visits for COVID-like illnesses had a downward trend, but not a strong one, Hahn said. She said many of these COVID-like illnesses are likely COVID-19.
“We can’t say from this graph how many of those people actually have COVID, but we know influenza, for example, is decreasing throughout the state, other respiratory viruses are decreasing, so we think this is probably a fair picture of illnesses that in many cases might be COVID,” Hahn said.
Idaho saw a good amount of ventilators, intensive care unit beds and personal protective equipment supply, Hahn said. There was a slight drift downwards in availability of beds and ventilators due to post-surgery care from a resurgence in elective surgeries.
Hahn said she is a little concerned about data regarding COVID-19 cases among healthcare workers, which includes everyone who works at healthcare facilities from janitorial staff to nurses and physicians. Exactly two healthcare workers per day on average were reported as having COVID-19. The cases are scattered throughout the state, not concentrated in one area. In many cases, investigators found the workers contracted the disease through community spread or household members, not at work.
“We would like to see fewer than two healthcare workers per day reported and we actually would not have met (the guidelines) if that was our only criteria,” Hahn said.
Little said community spread is occurring in over half of Idaho’s counties and across the country, COVID-19 is moving into rural areas with limited healthcare access. The expansion of telehealth services, however, has made an impact in addressing healthcare shortages in Idaho. Little said he is implementing an additional $50 million to expand broadband internet access across the state to aid healthcare, education and business. Telehealth, he said, will be a big beneficiary of this action.
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen said between March and May last year, Medicaid saw 450 telehealth visits for behavioral health. Between March and May this year, Medicaid saw 53,000 telehealth visits for the same reason. Behavioral health includes mental health issues such as anxiety and depression and recently expanded to include substance abuse issues.
If you are experiencing mental health troubles during this time, you can call Idaho CareLine at 211 or the Idaho COVID-19 Hotline at 1-888-330-3010 to be connected to immediate help.
Lex Miller can be reached at [email protected]