Despite rapidly rising COVID-19 cases in Idaho, Nez Perce County has been relatively quiet since the initial outbreak, which resulted in a steep climb in local confirmed cases.
Until recently, Nez Perce County was considered a hotspot for COVID-19 in north Idaho, but since the initial spike in cases, positive diagnoses have slowed down. Let’s break down the numbers:
- According to The Argonaut’s case page, there have been 11 new COVID-19 cases in the last 30 days. That is 8.8% of the county’s total cases. The first case in the county was confirmed on March 24. As of July 3, there were 85 confirmed cases, 12 probable cases and 19 deaths.
- There have been 4,004 confirmed and probable cases in Idaho in the last 30 days, according to the Idaho Division of Public Health (IDPH). That is over half of Idaho’s confirmed and probable cases. As of July 3, IDPH reported 6,994 total confirmed and probable cases in Idaho.
- Nez Perce County has a total population of 40,408. The number of cases per 10,000 people is 24. For all of Idaho the number of cases per 10,000 people is 38.3.
- There have been 3,296 COVID-19 laboratory tests completed in Idaho Public Health – North Central District between Feb. 23 and June 29, according to PH-NCD.
Tara Macke, the spokeswoman for PH-NCD, said she was unsure of how many tests were available and performed in Nez Perce County.
Nez Perce County confirmed another positive COVID-19 case Wednesday. The case was confirmed to be an employee from Hot Shot Espresso in Lewiston. According to the Hot Shot Espresso’s Facebook page, the location on Bryden Avenue has been closed and the business is working on getting all employees with possible exposure tested.
Hailey Marie, the manager of Hot Shot Espresso, stated in a comment on the post that dates and times the employee worked are not being released due to privacy and safety concerns.
“At this time from our understanding is the employee has to give consent before we release any information regarding shifts and times and they have not at this point,” Marie said. “Like we said in our post, we are doing everything we can with the information we have and are doing everything we can to ensure the public is safe and will release any info we can.”
Of the 19 COVID-19-related deaths in Nez Perce County, all but one were residents of the Lewiston Life Care Center.
The reopening plan for the care center said employees will maintain an increased level of monitoring and prevention strategies until an effective vaccine or treatment is released.
“In all phasing, social distancing (with a distance of six feet if applicable), source control (face coverings), implementation of a non-punitive associate illness policy, practice of good hand-hygiene, cough etiquette and increased cleaning and disinfecting of high-touch surfaces will continue,” the reopening plan stated.
Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @antxiam5