North Idaho COVID-19 cases hit 285
First case discovered in Boundary County, Shoshone still at zero
COEUR d’ALENE – The Panhandle Health District reports that 65 new cases of COVID-19 were discovered Monday, which brings the total number to 285 in the five norther counties. Since 121 of those cases are no longer being monitored, that means that 164 are active.
Broken down by county, 229 (135 active, 1 death) of the cases are coming from Kootenai County, 13 (3 active) from Benewah, 29 (22 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.
On June 25, PHD confirmed the first case of novel coronavirus in Boundary County. The individual contracted the virus while traveling, a PHD press release said.
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.
PHD urges all residents to take precautions to slow the spread of COVID-19. This includes, practicing physical distancing, wearing cloth face coverings in public places, practicing good hand hygiene, staying home when sick, sanitizing high-touch surfaces regularly and isolating immediately if you show symptoms of COVID-19.
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.