BOISE, Idaho — The governing body for Idaho's high school activities announced on Tuesday that the schedule of upcoming state championships will be not be changed due to concerns of the coronavirus.
The Idaho High School Activities Association said the boys' basketball, debate, cheer, and dance state championships will go on as planned. The IHSAA is talking to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and the Idaho Department of Education about how they should move forward.
Officials urge anyone to stay away from the events if they feel sick or have a fever or cough.
If you are sick, stay home. You can watch every game live on the NFHS Network.
Staff at the championships will clean high traffic areas throughout the venue regularly, provide handwashing stations, and promote hygiene practices, according to the IHSAA.
If anything changes, the IHSAA will work with the Department of Health and Welfare and make announcements about the changes.
Elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest, there have been multiple coronavirus cases and precautionary measures taken throughout Washington and Oregon, as well as some school closures in Northern Idaho.
In Washington, there have been six deaths and there are 18 presumed cases. Most of the deaths were people with underlying health issues. The Centers for Disease and Prevention is investigating a coronavirus outbreak at a nursing home in Kirkland. More than 50 people associated with Life Care Center are showing respiratory symptoms.
There are currently three presumed cases in Oregon and no deaths. The Wildhorse Resort and Casino in Pendleton, Oregon, was shut down after an employee contracted the coronavirus. The previous two other known Oregon cases occurred in the Portland area and had household contacts with each other.
As far as getting tested for coronavirus, Brandon Atkins with Central District Health says see your primary doctor if you have flu-like symptoms.
From there, your doctor will perform tests for the flu and common cold and see if you meet the criteria to be scanned for coronavirus.
"High-risk individuals are people who have been to a high exposure area like traveling to China, where a majority of cases in the world have originated," Atkins said.
If you meet the criteria to be tested for coronavirus, Atkins said your doctor will take a sample and send it off to the state of Idaho where it will be tested.
"One thing that is really important about this, once the state lab has run this test, they still have to send the test on to the CDC for verification," Atkins said. "So, I would say two weeks is probably a very early guideline for it."
As far as the cost, Atkins said because the test hasn't been commercialized, it's free for now.
"So if the person does meet the criteria and it is submitted and it is sent forward, it would go to our state lab and be processed at no out of pocket cost to that client," he said.
Facts not fear: Putting COVID-19 into context
The majority of people who have coronavirus will get better without any long-term effects, according to an Oregon doctor. About 82% of cases tend to be mild. In these cases, symptoms diminish over five to seven days, although people are still capable of transmitting the disease. But there are many people with a higher risk of having a more severe disease if they are diagnosed with coronavirus, including those with heart disease, diabetes, asthma and other vascular disease problems.
Also, most children who get it have mild symptoms.
To put the coronavirus numbers in context, millions of Americans get the flu every single year and there are thousands of flu deaths annually.
Since October 2019, the CDC estimates around 32 million Americans have gotten the flu. That’s one in every 10 Americans.
Since the coronavirus outbreak began late last year, there have been around 80,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in China. That means those cases account for just around .0056% of China's population.”