Elmore County sees Idaho’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 Brazil variant

BOISE, Idaho — An Elmore County woman under the age of 40 was confirmed to be infected with the P. 1 strain of COVID-19, known as the Brazil variant, Central District Health announced Thursday.

Though the variant was detected in Boise-area wastewater samples submitted in March, this is the first laboratory-confirmed case of the Brazil variant in Idaho, the district said.

The woman, who is under the age of 40, was not hospitalized, and she did not report having recently traveled.

The health district did not release woman’s vaccination status.

Central District Health disease investigators continue to keep a close eye on Elmore County, where Mountain Home is located. The county has seen an uptick in cases since late March. With no identified illness clusters or transmission sources, disease investigators believe the increase in cases is related to community transmission, which means people are getting the virus without having known contact to an infected person. 

“We know this Brazil variant was picked up in Boise wastewater earlier in March, which is an indicator that the virus is present in our community,” said Kimberly Link, communicable disease control manager for Central District Health. “I think we can be safe to assume that there has been some low level transmission that has been occurring.” 

Over the past week, Elmore County has seen an average of 20 new daily cases per 100,000 people, compared to a statewide average of 11.7.

COVID-19 tests to detect variants are now being evaluated in the state, Link said. Previously tests had to be sent elsewhere to be evaluated to determine whether a variant was present.

The health district on Thursday also updated its public health advisory for Ada, Elmore, Boise and Valley counties, in light of certain goals being met. Now that most people 65 and older have had the opportunity to become fully vaccinated and the districtwide two-week average daily case rate is below 30 cases per 100,000 people, the advisory has become even less strict.              

The February public health advisory for Ada, Boise, Elmore and Valley counties recommended wearing face coverings, avoiding indoor social gatherings and gatherings of more than 50 people.

The updated advisory still recommends face coverings when indoors and within 6 feet of non-household members, but says “consideration can be given” to not wear a mask if everyone interacting has been fully vaccinated. It also says children should wear masks when physical distancing cannot be maintained indoors.

The advisory doesn’t specify how big of a gathering would be deemed unsafe, rather noted that “large groups in close settings” pose greater COVID-19 risks and indoor venues pose greater risk than outdoor venues.

The advisory also recommends unvaccinated people at higher risk of sever effects of COVID-19 avoid large gatherings indoors.

“We want to be responsive to the current realities of the virus as we navigate this new phase with vaccine in the picture,” district Director Russell Duke said in a statement. “We are encouraged by those choosing to become vaccinated and the positive impact it’s having in keeping case counts at manageable levels in recent weeks and months. Though we have updated the advisory we want to remind people that this virus continues to impact our community members every day. Health and safety practices like masking and physical distancing have been critical in getting us to where we are today and we need to continue to use these tools, along with vaccine, to our advantage.”

Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased guidelines saying fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to wear face masks outdoors unless they’re in a big crowd of strangers. On Wednesday, the city of Boise ended its outdoor face mask requirement based on CDC guidance.

Duke said the health district will likely review its advisory again when vaccinations open to people under age 16, which he expects to see in June. 

Nearly 600,000 Idahoans, or roughly one in three residents, have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

There has been an uptick in the number of people receiving vaccines in Central District Health’s jurisdiction, Duke said, mostly been among people who are 65 years and older.