Shoshone COVID deaths climb to 9

COEUR d’ALENE – The Panhandle Health District has reported that Shoshone County now has nine deaths attributed to COVID-19.

This most recent death brings the total number in North Idaho to 33- 23 from Kootenai, 9 from Shoshone, and 1 from Benewah.

As of August 21, the Panhandle area has had a total of 2,547 confirmed COVID-19 cases (528 active). There have been 2,016 confirmed in Kootenai County (383 active, 23 deaths), 195 in Bonner (22 active), 83 in Benewah (23 active), 42 in Boundary (12 active), 179 in Shoshone (86 active, 9 deaths), and 18 are currently undetermined (2 active).

PHD also reported that the positivity rate of people testing for the coronavirus within the Panhandle Health District is on the decline.

“We are currently around an 11% positivity rate, so that is better than the over 12% positivity we were seeing in late July,” wrote Katherine Hoyer, PHD spokeswoman, on Thursday. “We are hopeful this means we are moving in a positive direction for our area.”

In the last three days, PHD reported 200 cases closed and 81 new cases.

According to the CDC, people with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported – ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness.

Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus. People with these symptoms may have COVID-19:

• Cough

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

• Fever

• Chills

• Muscle pain

• Sore throat

• New loss of taste or smell

This list is not all possible symptoms. Other less common symptoms have been reported, including gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.

If community members have these symptoms and they become severe, they should call PHD’s call center at 1-877-415-5225 or their provider. PHD will provide an over the phone assessment to determine if someone should be tested. Please call, do not come into PHD or your provider’s office.

COVID-19 testing data can be found at coronavirus.idaho.gov. For data specific to our area, look at PHD1.

For more details on local cases, number of currently hospitalized, and the total number of hospitalizations throughout the pandemic, visit the PHD website at panhandlehealthdistrict.org/covid-19/