Still no COVID-19 cases in Boundary County

Boundary County continues to have no confirmed cases of COVID19, according to the Panhandle Health District. In the region, the health district said there have been 61 cases in Kootenai County and four in Bonner County since the start of the novel coronavisus pandemic.

The virus, which causes COVID-19, also has not been detected in Shoshone or Benewah counties, the health district said. The virus has not been attributed to any deaths in the five northern counties.

The disease has led to five hospitalizations in the Panhandle and 39 people are no longer being monitored, PHD said.

The number of coronavirus cases in eastern Washington also remained flat on Tuesday, according to the Northeast Tri-County Health District. Pend Oreille County has two cases, while Ferry and Stevens counties have one and nine cases, respectively.

The health district said it is encouraged and hopeful that antibody testing, also known as serologic testing, could bring public health officials a step closer to understanding the total impact of COVID-19.

Officials at Panhandle Health and Kootenai Health said there is important value in understanding individual immunity as well as potential herd immunity among the community. With the science on COVID-19 still evolving, there is a lot that needs to be known about antibody tests.

“Serologic testing has the potential to provide a powerful tool in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Michael Harvey, M.D., medical director of Laboratory Services at Kootenai Health, said. “This testing methodology will play a vital role in assessing how prevalent the disease actually is.”

The Idaho Department of Health & Welfare reported on Tuesday that 35 new cases of confirmed and probable coronavirus have turned up, bringing the statewide total to 1,952 cases. The virus has claimed 60 lives in Idaho, according to Health & Welfare.

Two new cases of coronavirus were tallied in Montana on Tuesday, although they did not turn up in the northern part of the state. Lincoln County has seven cases and Sanders County has no cases, according to the Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services.