BOISE, Idaho — More COVID-19 testing options are now available at Idaho's major hospitals and healthcare clinics.
In a Zoom call on Tuesday, Saint Alphonsus announced the hospital is now using a rapid testing method called antigen testing.
"It's best used for symptomatic patients and the results are available within 15 minutes," said Dr. Patrice Burgess with Saint Al's.
Leaders at St. Luke's said they are also exploring the use of saliva tests.
When it comes to test results, Primary Health, St. Luke's, Saint Alphonsus and Valor Health are all reporting positivity rates between 7% and 10% for the past week, which is a downward trend.
Idaho's Department of Health and Welfare reported a statewide positivity rate of 8.3% for last week.
"We shouldn't jump to conclusions because that's only one week but even if that's the trend, it's a good trend, the 10% is still very high," said Primary Health CEO Dr. David Peterman.
However, Canyon County is not seeing the same positive correlation.
"In Canyon County, we are one of the hottest spots in the United States, which is alarming," said Travis Leach, president of Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Nampa.
Dr. John Kaiser, vice president and chief medical officer at Saltzer Health, echoed those concerns.
"We do most of our testing in Canyon County and if you look at the positivity rate for Canyon County, it's about 15% and that accounts for the two-thirds of tests we do," Kaiser said.
In the coming weeks, Labor Day weekend combined with schools reopening could be dangerous if Idahoans aren't careful.
"If we don't continue to be vigilant, we are going to see an increase in two to three weeks and we are going to be back into trouble again," said Dr. Richard Augustus, chief medical officer at West Valley Medical. "We should go out and enjoy the outdoors, we should do it in small groups. If we are going to be closer than six feet we should mask up."
Gretchen Parsons is an anchor, reporter and producer at KTVB since 2016. You can follow her on Instagram @gretchenparsonsKTVB or @gretchenKTVB on Twitter.
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