COVID case numbers are skyrocketing in Clearwater County, Health District

by Nancy C. Butler

COVID-19 case numbers are skyrocketing in Clearwater County and Public Health District 2 (Clearwater, Lewis, Idaho, Latah and Nez Perce counties) over the last two weeks and especially Tuesday.

According to Public Health-Idaho North Central District (District 2) Clearwater County had 100 cases in the first 2 weeks of 2022, Jan. 1-15, and 40 more were reported Tuesday after the 3-day weekend.

In comparison, there were only78 cases reported in the entire month of December 2021, 49 male and 29 female.

Of the 100 cases in the first 2 weeks of January, 62 were female and 38 male. There was 1 death, 98 open cases and one recorded as recovered. The majority of the cases in the first two weeks were in age groups from 18-29 to those in their 70s which is pretty typical for high point numbers in Clearwater County.

Here are the numbers by age group:

• 0-4: 1
• 5-12: 4
• 13-17: 1
• 18-29: 18
• 30s: 17
• 40s: 16
• 50s: 10
• 60s: 18
• 70s: 10
• 80s: 4
• 90s: 1

The 40 cases reported Tuesday on the PH-INCD website for Clearwater County were more closely split with 22 female and 18 male. All cases were still listed as 'open'. Here is the break down by age:

• 0-4: 0
• 5-12: 0
• 13-17: 0
• 18-29: 7
• 30s: 6
• 40s: 5
• 50s: 9
• 60s: 4
• 70s: 6
• 80s: 0
• 90s: 1

The health district had 1,215 cases in the first 2 weeks of January with 653 being female and 562 male. Open cases were listed at 1,212, recovered 1 and deaths 2.

Here is the break down by age group:

• 0: 1
• 0-4: 27
• 5-12: 44
• 13-17: 53
• 18-29: 324
• 30s: 220
• 40s: 192
• 50s: 148
• 60s: 107
• 70s: 69
• 80s: 23
• 90s: 7

Tuesday's report for the district showed 326 additional cases in the following numbers by county:

• Lewis: 11
• Idaho: 29
• Clearwater: 40
• Latah: 104
• Nez Perce: 142

By age group in the district, the 18-29 year olds had the highest number with 86, followed by 30s with 57, 50s with 39 and 60s with 34.

Those who would like to take a look at the statistics and their variables will find them at: https://www.idahopublichealth.com/.

While some people may feel that the cases are skyrocketing due to the omicron variant, it is still too early to know since the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare website at: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/idaho.division.of.public.health/viz/DPHIdahoCOVID-19Dashboard/Home does not list any of the omicron variant for Clearwater County. They do list 329 omicron cases in the state.