KOOTENAI COUNTY, Idaho — Amid record high coronavirus case rates in North Idaho, the Panhandle Health District said its been forced to change the way they conduct contact tracing of positive cases.
While epidemiologists with the district would previously reach out to close contacts of people who had tested positive for COVID-19, staff are now only conducting "minimal investigations," according to the PHD.
"Our staff are strapped. This is all we can do just to keep up," said health district spokeswoman Katherine Hoyer of the change that was prompted by surging cases in Idaho's five northern counties.
Instead, PHD staff that contact people who tested positive for the virus are educating them on what precautions to take at home and how long they need to stay isolated. Individuals who test positive for the virus are now being asked to voluntarily contact people they've come into close contact with.
Jeff Lee, PHD's epidemiology program manager, cited a "significant increase" in the number of cases for prompting the change.
"It's not easy," remarked the veteran health district employee.
Currently, average daily confirmed cases in Idaho's five northern counties are topping out over 100, Lee said.
"This is the highest it's been. We're also seeing increased positivity in the tests," he said.
That compares to North Idaho's summer coronavirus surge when average daily cases were closer to 60, according to Lee.
"Technically, this is our third wave," he said of the current rise in cases.
As of Thursday, Kootenai, Boundary, and Shoshone counties remained in the district's "red" or substantial risk category regarding potential spread of COVID-19.
"We are seeing the majority of our cases in the 20-30 somethings," Lee said.
The rising case rates come after PHD's board members last month rescinded an order requiring face coverings in public in Kootenai County. Currently, the use of masks is only technically recommended by the health district. The City of Coeur d'Alene, however, has since adopted its own face mask mandate.
Meanwhile, Kootenai Health is reporting its highest number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 since the pandemic first started.
According to hospital spokeswoman Andrea Nagel, Kootenai Health was treating 46 patients for coronavirus as of Thursday morning and 14 of those patients required critical care. The hospital's medical and surgical beds were at 89 percent capacity as well.
Last month, Kootenai Health announced that its beds had reached 99 percent capacity and that the hospital was close to considering sick patients to hospitals in other parts of the Northwest.
Nagel said that the hospital hasn't been forced to transfer COVID-19 patients so far, but added that some procedures earlier this week were rescheduled due to capacity issues.
"Between having staff out sick and the beds being full or close to full, they're at critical capacity right now," said Lee of Kootenai Health's situation.
Lee added that a percentage of local residents who are ignoring the health district's recommendation regarding face masks haven't been helping case rates locally. Lee did note, however, that rising case rates are also occurring across Idaho and other parts of the U.S.
"We have COVID fatigue just like everybody else. But everybody [at PHD] believes in what we're doing," Lee said.