North Idaho public health officials confirmed the presence of COVID-19 in Kootenai County Thursday afternoon as the number of confirmed cases in Spokane County rose to 9.

The North Idaho patient confirmed to have COVID-19 is a man in his 60s who is self-isolating in another state with mild symptoms, according to the Panhandle Health District. Officials are working to identify people the Kootenai County resident may have come into contact with him while contagious. He has an extensive travel history and was tested for COVID-19 at Kootenai Health but not hospitalized.

“There is no need to panic,” Panhandle Health District Officer Lora Whalen told reporters at a news conference, noting 80% of people who get the virus will experience mild symptoms. “It is time for each of us to consider what role we play in stopping the spread of this virus in our community of North Idaho.”

Whalen said all people should consider avoiding social gatherings and isolating themselves for 15 days to slow the spread of the virus, in addition to advice for people who are elderly, ill or experiencing underlying health conditions to stay home.

Kootenai County officials were not considering forcing businesses or restaurants closed Thursday afternoon, according to Chief Chris Way of the Kootenai County Emergency Medical Services System. Instead officials recommended adhering to strict social distancing guidelines.

Coeur d’Alene Public Schools announced it would close through April 6 on Saturday, following the confirmation of Spokane County’s first cases. At that time the district said it was aware of multiple employees and students, in addition to their family members, who are awaiting test results for COVID-19. One of those people had recently come into contact with someone who lives outside Idaho and tested positive for COVID-19. The contact was not in a district facility.

The Panhandle Health District reported it was monitoring 30 people as of Thursday afternoon.

Kootenai Health has collected samples for COVID-19 testing from about 150 people referred by doctors each day during the last few days, according to health officials. The hospital’s drive-thru testing site located outside of its emergency department has been operational since March 5.

Dr. Karen Cabell, Kootenai Health’s chief physician executive, said the hospital was preparing for an influx of patients by creating additional capacity, including in its emergency department and intensive care unit.

Spokane County confirmed four new COVID-19 cases Thursday afternoon and health officials reported one of those people is a resident of Holman Gardens retirement home in Spokane Valley. That person reported moderate symptoms and remained isolated in one of the facility’s 96 apartment units while health officials worked to identify and alert anyone who may have come into contact with them.

Officials were still gathering information about the other three cases Thursday evening, according to Spokane Regional Health District spokesperson Kelli Hawkins.

Hawkins said people need to take social distancing mandates seriously to slow the spread of the virus.

“It takes all of us to make it successful,” Hawkins said. “Just because you’re low risk and have very low to no symptoms, you could still be a carrier. You could still be transferring the virus to someone who is at high risk.”

The Spokane Regional Health District and local hospitals will open a COVID-19 screening site at the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center Friday for people who have been referred by a doctor.

The Washington State Department of Health reported nearly 1,400 cases and 74 deaths statewide Thursday afternoon, with two of the deaths occurring in Eastern Washington patients. The Benton-Franklin Health District reported two new cases in Franklin County Thursday.

In south central Idaho, local and state officials confirmed a case of community spread of COVID-19 – meaning the patient had no out-of-state travel history or contact with a known confirmed case – early Thursday afternoon in a Blaine County man in his 40s. The man reported very mild symptoms and was recovering at home.

Hours later Gov. Brad Little said during a news conference there were 16 total confirmed cases in Blaine County and two of them were health care workers. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare planned to order Blaine County residents to stay in their homes unless they had a vital reason to leave in hopes of preventing the virus from spreading further.

That brought Idaho to confirmed 23 cases statewide as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. The state’s first case was confirmed last Friday afternoon within hours of Little declaring a state of emergency. Little has resisted closing schools and businesses statewide, leaving those decisions up to local officials.

More than 600 people have been tested for COVID-19 in Idaho, according to the state health department. Almost 170 of those tests were performed at commercial labs, while the rest were at the state’s lab.

Nationwide officials have confirmed more than 13,000 cases and close to 160 deaths. About 5,300 of those cases are in New York.

Washington receives more test kits, battles equipment shortages

Washington received 8,000 COVID-19 test kits, along with supplies of the protective equipment needed to conduct the tests, from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to the state health department. Those supplies will be distributed to King, Pierce and Snohomish counties – which make up more than 80% of the confirmed cases in the state – to increase capacity for testing the elderly, people with underlying health conditions, health care providers and first responders.

More than 20,700 people had been tested for COVID-19 in Washington as of Thursday afternoon, according to the health department.

Washington’s State Public Health Lab continues to increase testing capacity, according to the health department. As of Saturday the lab could test more than 200 samples per day with a 48-hour turnaround for testing. The lab’s goal is to test 400 samples each day.

State officials requested nearly 65,000 N95 respirator masks, more than 154,000 surgical masks, about 29,300 face shields and close to 24,000 gowns from a federal stockpile last Friday, the state health department said. That request awaited approval as of Thursday afternoon.

To preserve the state’s supply of protective equipment Gov. Jay Inslee announced Thursday a prohibition on hospitals, dental offices and orthodontic offices providing non-emergency health care services until May 18.

MultiCare and Providence facilities in Spokane postponed all elective, non-emergency procedures earlier this week.

MultiCare announced Thursday tighter restrictions on visitors to local hospitals, including screenings before entering buildings and only one visitor per patient each day unless they are a minor. Minors will not be allowed to enter hospital buildings unless they are seeking care, and no one will be allowed to visit COVID-19 patients unless the patient is a minor.