COVID-19 Update: December 3, 2021

Cases and hospitalizations continue to fall throughout most of the state. While epidemiologists nationwide are watching for signs of the omicron variant of COVID-19 spreading in the United States, as of Friday afternoon, no cases of the highly transmissible variant had been reported in Idaho. Statewide, the test positivity rate is at 7 percent. That varies by region, with 5.4 percent in Public Health District Four, and 10 percent in the Panhandle Health District. Currently, the Panhandle Health District is the only part of the state still under crisis standards of care. The five counties with the highest seven day moving average case rates are Benewah, Lincoln, Lewis, Franklin, and Shoshone. Nearly 20,000 Idaho children between the ages of 5 and 11 have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. 57 percent of Idahoans ages 12 and older are fully vaccinated. Currently, all adults are eligible to get booster shots, which are recommended to slow the spread and severity of both the Delta and Omicron variants.