By the fall of 2021, Kootenai Health was reporting 140 COVID inpatients in a single day, with 25 requiring critical care. The Panhandle Health District’s positivity rate reached 21 percent — nearly double the statewide average of 12 percent.
State health officials pointed to North Idaho’s lower vaccination rates as a key factor in the region’s disproportionate case numbers. While most areas of Idaho were seeing flat or declining numbers, the Panhandle region continued to record surging infections and deaths.
The Panhandle Health District reported 500 COVID-related deaths by October 2021, a number that climbed by nearly 100 in just two and a half weeks. The crisis strained not just hospitals but the entire regional healthcare network.