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Idaho To Move To Phase 4 Reopening On Saturday

State of Idaho

Idaho Governor Brad Little has announced his state will move to the final phase of its reopening strategy, beginning Saturday.

“One hundred percent of businesses will be able to open their doors as we enter stage four of our Idaho Rebounds plan.""That means senior living centers and other congregate facilities can resume under strict protocols to protect residents and workers," Little said.

Visitors can go see loved ones in those facilities. Night clubs and large sporting venues can reopen. Non-essential travel can continue to areas that are accepting visitors and which don’t have coronavirus transmission problems.

Little says, while this is good news, there are warning signs.

“We almost did not make it to stage four this week," he said.

State epidemiologist Christine Hahn says one reason is a small spike in cases in the last 10 days.

"When we looked at that data more carefully in early June, remember, this coincides with our bump in testing, a lot of that testing was done by hospitals with their workers," Hahn said. "We found that this is not one particular part of the state or one facility. This is really scattered throughout the state and, in many cases, what the investigators found was that these were health care workers that appear to have gotten the infection not at work, but in the community from another household member or other community spread.”

She says hospitals are reporting a small decrease in bed availability in intensive care units, but not because of Covid. She says more people have resumed going to the doctor to have medical procedures done that require them to stay in the hospital.