Gov. Brad Little announced Tuesday that not only is he accepting his Coronavirus Advisory Committee’s Friday recommendation to move Idahoans 65 and older up in line for the COVID-19 vaccine, he’s moving up the whole process, clearing the way for school teachers, first responders and other fr…
Coronavirus
Risk level elevated to critical in community
When eastern Idaho health officials meet Thursday morning, they’ll be facing an entirely different COVID-19 situation.
In the final days of 2020, an 85 year-old resident of Alta, WY, died by suicide. Another valley resident made a plan for suicide by firearm, and tactful intervention by sheriff’s deputies prevented his death.
Dawn Wells, who played the wholesome Mary Ann among a misfit band of shipwrecked castaways on the 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” died on Dec. 30 of causes related to COVID-19, her publicist said. She was 82.
BOISE — Idaho officials have released a rough timeline for when residents can expect their turn to get the coronavirus vaccination, though much of the planning remains a work in progress and is contingent on the state's supply and demand.
On Dec. 29, the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department will begin delivering a second round of Economic Impact Payments as part of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 to millions of Americans who received the first round of payments earli…
The idea crystallized in a rather run-of-the-mill wintertime moment. Ava Kelly, a 14-year-old resident of the Tetons, thought it would be nice to go ice skating at the Kotler Ice Arena in Victor.
After a few months of rumors and alarming news stories, then on-the-ground reports from locals who had traveled through Seattle or crossed U.S. borders in late February and early March, the virus then known as the 2019 novel coronavirus suddenly blew into Teton County when Eastern Idaho Publ…
While coronavirus cases have slowed significantly this month in eastern Idaho — with daily case averages declining from the 200s to fewer than 150 over the past week — medical leaders warn that local intensive care units remain stretched near their limits treating mostly COVID-19 patients.
Teton County schools braced for a post-Thanksgiving spike of COVID cases. Somewhat surprisingly, that spike never came.
“We love doing Winter Sports, but we do not see how to safely execute programs and keep ourselves and students safe,” wrote the elementary school teachers of Victor in a letter to the school board read on Monday, Dec. 14.
The Post Register has compiled every demographic detail that Eastern Idaho Public Health releases for COVID-19 deaths in the eight-county health district. Here is who has died:
On Monday evening, hours after the first Idahoan received Pfizer’s newly approved COVID-19 vaccination in Rexburg, 60 doses were driven down the snowy highway from Idaho Falls to the Teton Valley Hospital in Driggs.
The Cooke family of Victor has a kindergartener and a senior currently enrolled in Teton School District 401. That wide age span has meant a set of diverse challenges for the household as the school district attempts to tackle the pandemic.
The State of Idaho could activate Crisis Standards of Care if the healthcare system becomes overwhelmed over a broad geographic region and if resources cannot be obtained quickly enough to address the shortage.
REXBURG — A hospital in eastern Idaho began inoculating health care workers on Monday with a very limited number of initial doses of Pfizer's newly-approved COVID-19 vaccine, signaling what could be the beginning of the end for the coronavirus pandemic.
Corner Drug has expanded services providing COVID-19 tests starting Dec. 15.
Two of Idaho’s leading hospital disaster planners told eastern Idaho public health officials on Thursday that the state is teetering toward entering a hospital resource crisis allocation plan if current trends don’t let up.
An increase in emergency calls and a decrease in response staff is a potentially disastrous combination for any community. And it’s a reality that first responders around the region are facing. In addition to the normal call volume — fires, vehicle accidents, injuries, and illnesses — first …
With the holidays and a pandemic in full swing, many parents find themselves wondering how to help their kids navigate a season that is typically marked with gatherings and treasured traditions. Recommendations from local and national experts advise against lots of activities that children l…
In two special meetings last week, the Teton School District 401 Board of Trustees voted to return students to full-time in-person learning through December, then voted to decrease the required quarantine time for students and staff exposed to COVID from 14 days to 10 without symptoms or sev…
Idaho is expecting to receive far fewer initial doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine than anticipated.
Each day Kenneth Krell is working at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center’s intensive care unit, he and a respiratory therapist will check on the patients who are on high-flow oxygen.
In a COVID-focused session last night, the Teton School District 401 Board of Trustees met to reassess how students in the district will be learning for the coming month. After three hours of discussion, the board voted that students will immediately return to a full-time in-person learning …
Students return to hybrid schooling
After announcing at 7 p.m. Saturday that students would continue home-based learning on Monday, Nov. 30 because Teton County is still in the critical risk level, the Teton School District 401 released a second announcement at 8:15 p.m. saying school would instead go back to the alternate-day…
As COVID infection rates continue to climb across eastern Idaho and the state at large, local businesses have been forced to find new ways of offering their services to members of the Teton Valley community. The challenge has been dynamic; as the understanding of the virus has evolved, so ha…
Good news: Vaccines are on the horizon.
By Wednesday night, Eastern Idaho Public Health had already reported 15 new COVID-19 deaths, the most ever reported in a single week, according to the Post Register’s tracking of public health data. That news comes as the region’s rate of new cases is at a record high.
Last week Teton County saw a dramatic uptick in new COVID cases, causing Eastern Idaho Public Health to elevate the county to the highest risk level, critical, on Nov. 10 after the active case rate had risen above 45 per 10,000 people for three consecutive days. That Tuesday the county also …
Gov. Brad Little announced today that he’s mobilizing the Idaho National Guard to aid in the state’s coronavirus response, and moving the state back to Stage 2 of reopening as COVID-19 cases swell across the state, straining hospitals and sickening and killing Idahoans.
A second county in eastern Idaho has reached the critical-risk level, the highest of four risk levels that Eastern Idaho Public Health uses to evaluate the rate at which coronavirus is spreading in different areas.
Virus now 'very widespread' in Idaho
Students could go to at-home learning next week
Teton County, in cooperation with local cities, Teton Valley Health and Eastern Idaho Public Health, has issued an urgent Public Health Advisory due to a major spike in local COVID-19 cases.
The governor of Utah declared a new state of emergency and announced new restrictions Sunday night aimed at getting a handle on the current wave of the novel coronavirus overwhelming hospitals in the state.
On Nov. 6 Eastern Idaho Public Health moved Teton County from moderate to high risk level after the local rate of active coronavirus cases remained over 30 per 10,000 people for three consecutive days. According to the Teton School District 401 reopening plan, approved by the school board on…
New restrictions aimed at main source of transmission
BOISE – Idaho’s state Board of Education reports that in just 48 hours, it had received 18,600 applications from parents for the new “Strong Families, Strong Students” program that will pay for computers and other services to help with their kids’ education during the COVID-19 pandemic, repr…
No positives in first week of RUES pilot testing program
Gov. Brad Little announced today that Idaho will move back to Stage 3 of its reopening, after remaining in Stage 4 since June, due to coronavirus spread and “alarming” capacity questions at Idaho hospitals. The governor stopped short of issuing a statewide mask mandate, though health officia…
Editor's note: This article has been updated to correctly state the number of deaths are linked to long-term care centers in eastern Idaho.
As Idaho families adapt to changing circumstances in their children’s education because of COVID-19, a new source of funding is now available to help.
Staff to receive stipend through CARES Act
Public officials are urging people to accept "personal responsibility" to adhere to health guidelines as new coronavirus cases in Idaho see a resurgence unlike ever before.
On Oct. 7 Victor Mayor Will Frohlich sent a letter to the Teton County Sheriff’s Office requesting that the sheriff provide a bi-weekly report on actions taken by officers to enforce the city’s mask ordinance.
Brigham Young University-Idaho officials are warning students that anyone intentionally exposing themselves or others to COVID-19 will be suspended and may be permanently dismissed.
Eastern Idaho Public Health’s board substantially reduced or eliminated many restrictions in its pandemic plan, favoring public education about COVID-19 when the virus worsens in an area.