BOISE, Idaho — While most of Idaho is experiencing a decline in day-to-day cases of the coronavirus, Twin Falls County saw a slight jump in cases, which one local doctor attributes to the state entering the first phase of reopening the economy.
Dr. Joshua Kern is the vice president of Medical Affairs at St. Luke's Magic Valley and told KTVB on Monday that the tick in new cases in Twin Falls County doesn't necessarily worry him.
"Right now, we don't have a lot of patients in the hospital, over the weekend we had a very low census in the hospital," he said.
The coronavirus pandemic hit Idaho nearly two months ago, so Dr. Kern said that time has been used effectively to prepare.
"Some of the anxiety was around the uncertainty because it was new and now that we are close to two months of doing this, our healthcare providers kind of have it down and know how to protect ourselves," he explained.
While the spike isn't massive, Dr. Kern believes Idaho reopening its economy and people relaxing on social distancing lead to the spike.
"Businesses have opened up, even just driving here to the hospital, you can tell by the amount of traffic and people you see in the community that were probably having more social contact than we were a couple of weeks ago," he said.
As social distancing rules relax, state and national health warn that a second wave of coronavirus cases is possible. Because of that, Dr. Kern urges people to continue following CDC guidelines.
"The big question mark remains around can you spread the disease before you have symptoms," he said, "and that's where the idea of having most people who are out in public spaces wearing masks is probably beneficial not so much to protect yourself but to protect others."
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