Officials: 16 new cases in region

Aug. 7--There were 16 new cases of COVID-19 reported by public health officials in north central Idaho and southeastern Washington on Thursday, bringing the region's total to 417 cases since the pandemic began in March.

The number of reported cases ties a daily record for the region, which also reported 16 cases July 6 and 22.

Whitman County Public Health reported eight cases, bringing the county's total to 105. Three women and five men, all between the ages of 20-39, tested positive for the disease. Public health officials in the county stress that social distancing and personal vigilance should be maintained and that "masks are an easy and effective way to reduce the spread of COVID-19."

Asotin County Public Health Administrator Brady Woodbury reported two new cases Thursday. That brings the county's total to 26 cases since the pandemic began.

Garfield County did not have any new cases to report Thursday. The county has a total of three cases.

Latah County had four cases and Nez Perce County had two on Thursday, bringing the total cases in the Public Health -- Idaho North Central District to 283.

Latah County cases include a man in his 20s and three women, one in her 20s, one in her 40s and one in her 60s. There have been 100 cases in Latah County, with 38 people recovered from the disease, leaving 62 active cases in the county.

Nez Perce County had two women, one in her 20s and one in her 60s, test positive. There have been 138 cases in Nez Perce County. Public health officials report that 89 people have recovered from the disease, 19 have died and 30 currently have active cases.

Clearwater, Idaho and Lewis counties did not report any new cases.

Idaho added 692 new cases on Thursday and reported that six have died from the disease, bringing the state's total to 223 deaths. The Gem State has had 23,399 cases of the disease since the pandemic began. The state's latest hospitalization data shows 242 people were in hospitals around the state with COVID-19 and 42 of them were in an intensive care unit as of Monday. There have been a total of 954 Idahoans hospitalized because of COVID-19, with 147 of them hospitalizations between July 29 and Aug. 3, according to the state.

The Washington Health Department reported 866 new cases in the Evergreen State on Thursday. There were 29 more deaths, bringing the state's total to 1,653. There have been 5,874 reported hospitalizations because of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Idaho to remain in Stage 4 for another two weeks

Idaho still isn't where it needs to be in regard to the coronavirus pandemic and will remain in Stage 4 of its four-phase reopening plan for another two weeks, Gov. Brad Little announced Thursday.

Nevertheless, the governor said he still believes public schools can reopen safely in the coming weeks.

"The expectation is that schools will not be closed for extended periods of time during the 2020-21 academic year," Little said during an hourlong news conference. "I genuinely understand the concerns of some teachers and parents about returning to schools for in-person instructions. That's why we've put significant resources into the safe reopening of schools."

Those investments, he said, include $10 million for masks, gloves, sanitizers and other personal protective equipment, as well as $48 million to help improve broadband services for blending learning (part online, part in-person) opportunities; and $21 million for COVID-19 testing for teachers and staff.

Little, together with state epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn, noted that Idaho is seeing some modest improvement in various coronavirus statistics, such as a slight downward trend in the number of new cases reported each day and in the percentage of tests that are positive.

However, Hahn also noted that too many people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 are being admitted to hospitals on a daily basis.

"We'd like to see that number below four per day, on average, and we're well above that," she said. "It was up to 14 a few days ago. ... We've heard from hospitals that they're seeing more and more cases, so that's a measure we really need to take seriously. That's why we're not advancing out of Stage 4 at this time."

Idaho Supreme Court allowing mediation in misdemeanor cases

Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Burdick has issued an order allowing courts across the state to order mediation in misdemeanor criminal cases because of the reduction in court services during the pandemic.

The order, issued last week, follows a June order that suspended the 12-hour training requirement for criminal mediators.

If the court orders a misdemeanor case into mediation, all parties must make reasonable efforts and exercise good faith in the mediation. The order remains in effect until another order replaces it.

LC Valley Down and Dirty Mud Run canceled

The 2020 LC Valley Down and Dirty Mud Run, scheduled to happen Aug. 26 at the Lewiston Roundup Grounds, has been canceled. The event was last held in 2017.

The group's Facebook page made the announcement this week.

"We made a great effort to hold out in hopes we could have a great race this year but we sadly have to wait until 2021," the Facebook post said.

Blue Cross of Idaho extends COVID-19 benefits for members

Blue Cross of Idaho announced Wednesday that it would extend its COVID-19 benefits for its members throughout Idaho, which impacts the company's fully insured and Medicare lines of business.

Blue Cross of Idaho will continue to waive cost-sharing for members for COVID-19 testing and COVID-19 office visits through the end of the public health emergency.

The company will also continue to waive cost-sharing for members for treatment of COVID-19 for 60 days after the end of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency or Dec. 31, 2020, whichever comes sooner.

Wells may be contacted at mwells@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2275. The Tribune's William L. Spence contributed to this report.

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