Two Idaho cities top New York Times’ list of current worst virus outbreaks

BOISE — Two Idaho cities are at the top of the New York Times’ list for worst COVID-19 outbreaks over the last two weeks, showing dozens of people per 100,000 residents being infected with the virus each day.

According to the New York Times’ interactive COVID-19 dashboard, which tracks city-level deaths and case numbers for metro areas, Idaho Falls and Rexburg are among the worst virus hot spots in the country. Idaho Falls ranked No. 1, with an average of 55.9 cases per 100,000 residents each day over the last two weeks. The next-nearest hot spot was New York City, with 44.1 cases per capita. Not far behind New York, Rexburg averaged 38.9 daily cases per 100,000 residents.

Idaho Falls and Rexburg were the only Idaho cities to make the top 20. In contrast, Boise had just 12.8 cases per capita, leaving it at No. 311 on the New York Times list.

Bonneville County, home to Idaho Falls, has reported a spike in cases in recent weeks. According to Idaho Department of Health and Welfare data tracked by the Statesman, Bonneville County has recorded triple-digit case numbers several times a week for roughly two weeks.

Things may not improve for Idaho Falls in the short term. The city also made the top 20 on the Times’ list of cities where new cases are increasing the fastest. Idaho Falls reported an increase of about 63 new cases per 100,000 residents when comparing last week’s total to current totals.

Meanwhile, Rexburg also made the Times’ list of places hit hardest by the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. It has reported 145 cases per 1,000 residents over the last year, making it the eleventh-worst-hit city in the U.S. since last year. Many of those cases were reported last fall, when numbers spiked in Rexburg due in part to an outbreak tied to Brigham Young University-Idaho. Rexburg topped the Times’ list of worst outbreaks during the first week of October.

Mimi Taylor, spokesperson for East Idaho Public Health which oversees both Bonneville and Madison counties, told the Statesman in an email that people are transmitting the virus by leaving their homes when they’re sick. Taylor also said people in the district are gathering in groups without social distancing or masks.

“Basically, people are not following public health guidelines that have been proven to slow the spread of the virus,” she said.

Both counties are considered “extreme high-risk” areas for contracting COVID-19, according to a New York Times analysis. Several other counties, most of them also in East Idaho, are also considered extreme high risk. They are Latah, Franklin, Bingham, Jefferson and Fremont counties. (Ada County is considered “very high risk,” while much of the rest of Idaho is simply “high risk.”)

TNS