Panhandle COVID-19 cases jump to 385
COEUR d’ALENE — The Panhandle Health District reports that 44 new cases of COVID-19 were discovered Thursday, which brings the total number to 385 in the five norther counties. Since 128 of those cases are no longer being monitored, that means that 257 are active.
Broken down by county, 325 (224 active, 1 death) of the cases are coming from Kootenai County, 13 (3 active) from Benewah, 33 (26 active) from Bonner, 1 is from Boundary, and 13 (4 active) are yet to be identified. Shoshone County still reports zero confirmed cases.
Once PHD receives notification of a confirmed case from a lab, they connect with that individual to verify their information. This can be difficult for a variety of reasons:
• Contact tracing is voluntary and PHD relies on an individual’s willingness to participate.
• Information provided may be incomplete, incorrect or not provided at all.
• Those experiencing homelessness or are in a transient living situation are other possible reasons it may take longer to determine a primary county of residence.
In the Panhandle area, community transmission, also referred to as community spread, has been identified in Kootenai, Bonner and Benewah counties. Community spread means at least one person has been infected with the virus and through contact tracing we are unable to determine how or where they became infected. The individual(s) did not travel and had no identified contact with another person with COVID-19. PHD urges all residents to assume the virus could be anywhere in the community and surrounding counties.
As we head into the 4th of July weekend, PHD urges the public to be diligent in wearing their cloth face coverings in public, keeping 6 feet between yourself and others, washing their hands frequently, and staying home if you are sick.
“We continue to see rapid community spread and it takes everyone doing their part to slow the spread of this virus,” PHD Public Information Officer Katherine Hoyer said. “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. (This list does not include all possible symptoms): Fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, or diarrhea.
Idahoans are urged to:
• Wear protective face coverings in public.
• Keep physical distance of at least 6 feet from others outside your household.
• Wash hands and surfaces regularly.
• Stay home if you are sick.
For more local information regarding COVID-19, visit panhandlehealthdistrict.org/covid-19 or call the Panhandle Health District Hotline Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 877-415-5225.