No one had tested positive for coronavirus as of Monday afternoon in north central Idaho and Asotin and Whitman counties.

Health officials weren’t officially monitoring anyone for the illness in those places.

That update came as area nursing homes instituted measures to protect their patients, the protocols for testing loosened and schools continued to ready for a potential spread of the illness.

Nursing homes are taking precautions, such as asking people who are sick not to enter and not allowing meetings of large groups to take place at their facilities, said Brady Woodbury, public health administrator in Asotin County.

“We know for sure people 60 (years old) and older and people with underlying health conditions are most vulnerable to the virus, significantly so,” he said.

Exactly who is suffering from the coronavirus is expected to become more clear in coming days. That’s because two private labs and the University of Washington are testing samples from patients who have been recommended for the screening by their primary care providers, Woodbury said.

The private labs, LabCorp and Quest Diagnostics, are handling tests ordered by primary care providers in Idaho too, said Mike Larson, a nurse at Public Health-Idaho North Central District at Lewiston.

That’s a change from last week, when state labs in both Washington and Idaho were conducting the tests and only accepting tests that had been approved by local health districts in consultation with state-level experts, Woodbury and Larson said.

Blue Cross of Idaho, Regence BlueShield of Idaho, PacificSource and SelectHealth, all four major insurance providers in Idaho, will be paying for the tests for their customers, according to a news release from the Idaho Association of Health Plans.

So will Mountain Health CO-OP, which has 10,594 Idaho members, according to a separate news release.

While testing is increasing, public health officials are continuing to give the same advice about preventing the coronavirus.

People should wash their hands frequently with soap and water for 20 seconds, not touch their faces, stay home if they get sick, avoid interacting with people who are ill and call ahead to their health care providers to be seen for a cough or fever, Larson said.

“That’s the most important message,” he said. “We may not be able to keep the coronavirus from spreading, but we can reduce your risk by following those things.”

Steps being implemented by Washington State University and the Moscow School District will make it easier to follow those recommendations.

WSU is offering training on distance learning technologies to faculty and students as “one of several responses to mitigate the impact of this disease,” according to an email to the faculty from Interim Provost and Executive Vice President Bryan Slinker.

“Learning them by the end of spring break (which runs March 16 through March 20), while starting to build your toolkit for alternate labs and such, is crucial if we are to do right by our students and meet our mission this spring while we respond to the limitations imposed by this public health emergency,” Slinker said.

The Moscow School District has suspended a requirement that a doctor’s written excuse is needed for an illness not to count against a 90 percent attendance rule.

“We understand that due to the coronavirus, medical personnel may be dealing with a large volume of patients, which we don’t want to contribute to if possible,” said Superintendent Gregory Bailey in an email to parents and guardians.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.