Area sees jump in cases of COVID-19

SANDPOINT — The region continues to post rising numbers of new cases of novel coronavirus, the Panhandle Health District reported on Thursday.

The district said 97 new confirmed cases of the virus were tallied, bringing the total number of cases in Idaho’s five northern counties to 689. Kootenai County has 595 cases and one fatality, while Bonner County has 57 cases. Benewah and Boundary counties have 15 cases and two cases, respectively. Shoshone County has eight cases and 12 additional cases involve residents whose primary county of residency is undetermined.

Kootenai County has 433 active cases and Bonner County has 34 active cases, the health district said in a post to its Facebook page on Thursday. All eight of Shoshone County’s cases remain active and there is one active case in Boundary County. Two of the undetermined cases remain active, according to the health district.

There have been 22 hospitalizations over the course of the pandemic, though only five people are currently hospitalized, according to PHD.

The district said 210 infected Panhandle residents are no longer being monitored.

The Northeast Tri-County Health District in Washington state recorded three new cases on Thursday, two of which were in Stevens County. Pend Oreille County added one new case, bringing the total number of cases to eight. Stevens County has 23 cases, according to NETCHD. Ferry County had one new case which was ultimately fatal.

There are a total of 32 cases in the tri-county area, the health district said. Taken together, the region has logged 12 new cases in the last 14 days.

The rapid surge of cases in Montana, meanwhile, drew national attention on Thursday. The state added 96 new cases on Thursday, lifting the statewide total to 1,466 cases. Lincoln County now has 11 cases, while Sanders County continues to be one of a handful of Big Sky state counties in which no cases of COVID-19 have emerged.

Nationally, the U.S. surpassed a grim threshold of more than three million cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. The nation added 64,771 cases on Thursday, the CDC said.

Internationally, a new specter may be emerging after the World Health Organization acknowledged on Thursday that the virus may linger in the air, particularly in indoor settings with poor ventilation, the Washington Post reported. Most public health guidelines have focused on transmission by close or direct contact with infected persons.

The WHO is calling for further research on airborne spread of the virus.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.