BOISE, Idaho — Sunday marks 100 days since Idaho reported its first case of COVID-19. Since the Gem State's first confirmed test, 3,594 Idahoans have tested positive and 89 people have died.
"Our infection in Idaho started in Ketchum and then it flowed down to Twin Falls and up to Boise," Governor Brad Little said during a virtual town hall on Tuesday.
On Saturday, the state reported 132 new cases, 116 confirmed and 16 probable, making it the third day in a row where there were more than 100 new cases across Idaho. Gov. Little explained the uptick is partly due to increased testing during his town hall.
"We started off being able to test 14 people a week and now we think we have a surge capacity of 20,000," Governor Little said.
While new cases are rising, the state says hospitals' capacity is still doing well.
"We haven't necessarily seen that translate into more utilization of hospitals, which is a good thing," said Dave Jepson, the director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Earlier this month, the state reported a cluster of cases that were linked to downtown Boise bars, and many of the people who tested positive were younger Idahoans. Statewide statistics show that 18 to 29-year-olds account for the highest percentage of coronavirus cases in Idaho across all age groups.
"The new numbers in the Boise are mainly young people who are showing very little symptoms," Gov. Little said.
Idaho has had a total of 89 COVID-19-related deaths in the last 100, 56 of those were in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Of the 3,594 people who have tested positive, at least 3,305 people have presumably recovered, according to the state.
While June 26 marks the end of the final phase of the Governor's reopening plan, he says that doesn't mean life will return to normal.
"Stage four means we are pretty close to the end, but I don't want people to think because we are in stage four, they can be careless. When we get through stage four there will still be guidance for everything from restaurants to events."
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