Moscow hospital maxed out on virus patients

Gritman Medical Center’s COVID-19 patient care unit has maxed out this past week with the highest number of people with COVID-19 being admitted for inpatient treatment, the hospital announced Thursday.

Thirteen new coronavirus patients were admitted to the Moscow hospital in the past week. That brings the total of COVID-19-positive patients since the beginning of the pandemic to 132, 82.6 percent of whom were unvaccinated.

Hospital officials urged “everyone who can be vaccinated to do so as soon as possible,” in a news release. They also asked people to continue to wear a mask and practice social distancing to help stop the spread of the disease.

“There is a way out of the pandemic if we all work together to protect the health and safety of ourselves and our neighbors,” the news release said.

Peter Mundt, director of community relations and marketing for Gritman, added that the hospital began administering COVID-19 vaccinations to employees in December. All employees who can be vaccinated are urged to do so as soon as possible, and Mundt said 72 percent of the staff has received one dose; 68 percent has received two doses and 24 percent has received three doses.

Mundt said the hospital expects those percentages to go up in the next several weeks as in-house vaccination efforts continue.

Abner King, chief executive officer for Syringa General Hospital in Grangeville, said Thursday 51.7 percent of his employees are currently vaccinated for COVID-19.

Public Health – Idaho North Central District reported 102 new cases Thursday, including one in Lewis County, three in Clearwater County, 59 in Idaho County, 14 in Latah County and 25 in Nez Perce County.

Whitman County reported 16 new cases and Garfield County had one new case. Asotin County reported 11 new cases Thursday for a 14-day count of 171, along with five current hospitalizations and 12 breakthrough cases in October.

Aaron Krieger, warden at North Idaho Correctional Institution at Cottonwood, verified that the high number of infections in Idaho County were the result of a mass testing at the prison in which 65 inmates and five staff members recently tested positive. Krieger said the prison was only recently advised of the results.

The Lewiston School District reported seven new cases Thursday. Three of the cases were students at Jenifer Middle School, two were students at Lewiston High, one was a student at McSorley Elementary and one was a staff member at Tammany High. The school district now has 16 active cases.

Tri-State Memorial Hospital is hosting its second COVID-19 vaccine booster clinic from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 16. Those attending must bring their COVID-19 vaccine card, a photo ID and insurance card. They also must have completed the Pfizer vaccine series on or before March 16, 2021.

Hedberg may be contacted at kathyhedberg@gmail.com or (208) 983-2326.