BOISE, Idaho — With only four days until the official start of Spring, temperatures in the Treasure Valley will be into the upper 60's by Thursday. With the sun not setting until nearly 8 p.m., it seems like the perfect time to be out and about.
The warm weather also brings the hope that COVID-19 inoculations will increase and case numbers will decrease. That hope, however, may be premature.
The latest COVID-19 case trends show Idaho's numbers heading in the wrong direction. There has been a slight increase in the average number of cases per week, but nothing compared to rates seen during the third spike in November and December of last year.
In January, case numbers were dropping at encouraging rates, similar to the case count during the early days of last summer. However, cases began to level off at the beginning of March and are now inclining once again.
On Monday, there were 421 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases in Idaho. On Tuesday, there were 362 new confirmed and probable cases. In the last week, the seven-day moving average jumped from 278 to 394, a 42% increase over the week before.
While it is not considered a "surge" or a "spike" in cases, it has the potential to lead to one.
Join 'The 208' conversation:
- Text us at (208) 321-5614
- E-mail us at the208@ktvb.com
- Join our The 208 Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/the208KTVB/
- Follow us on Twitter: @the208KTVB or tweet #the208 and #SoIdaho
- Follow us on Instagram: @the208KTVB
- Bookmark our landing page: /the-208
- And we also turn each episode into a podcast or Podbeam
- Still reading this list? We're on YouTube, too: