In late June, a new wave of coronavirus cases in Ada County was tied to young people visiting Boise bars. But, a few weeks later, doctors are seeing an increasing number of older people getting sick, including those at long-term care centers.
During a Central District Health Board of Health meeting this week, Dr. Jim Souza, the medical director at St. Luke's, said while people testing positive for the coronavirus four weeks ago in Boise were almost exclusively in their twenties, now the numbers of 40- to 50-year-olds and those over 60 showing up at testing centers are greatly increasing.
This week, there were 123 new coronavirus cases in Idaho's long-term care centers. Now, 17 facilities have outbreaks that didn’t have them last week.
That’s the largest weekly increase in long-term care cases since Idaho started making this information public at the beginning of June.
Most of the new outbreaks and cases are in Ada and Canyon counties. Caldwell Care of Cascadia saw 36 new cases, for a total of 61 cases -- the highest number for a long-term care center in the state.
As of Friday, 61 of 100 deaths in the state were associated with long-term care facilities.
Find reporter Rachel Cohen on Twitter @racheld_cohen
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