After a months-long lull, coronavirus infections and hospitalizations are surging in Idaho while state health officials spot more cases caused by the ultra contagious delta variant.

Leaders in Teton School District 401 have spent the past couple of weeks shifting into summer mode, decompressing, and looking back on a school year that was unprecedented in every way.

Citing strikingly improved rates of coronavirus infection and hospitalization, eastern Idaho health officials on Thursday retired a plan that guided their coronavirus response for the eight-county region that once became home to two national hotspots.

For people who haven’t found time yet to get their Covid vaccination, Corner Drug is offering walk-in vaccinations during most business hours.

Board reaffirms mask vote at special meeting Monday

The Teton School District 401 Board of Trustees voted on May 10 to make masks optional at all schools for the remainder of the academic year, effective May 11. 

In a sign that Idaho has more COVID-19 vaccines than residents who want them, state public health officials will no longer recommend that providers ask people to prove they live or work in-state to be inoculated.

On Tuesday, April 20, the Driggs City Council voted to lift the city’s mandatory mask mandate, effective on Monday, April 26, because ICU usage across the region is down and vaccines are available to all adults. The Teton Board of County Commissioners followed suit on Wednesday, April 28, an…

Every adult in Idaho is eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines, but the number of adults who've received at least one dose in Idaho is barely more than halfway toward the 80% benchmark that experts say could pave a path for the virus to be under control. And that doesn't include young childre…

Victor and Teton County will discuss at next week's meetings

At this Monday's meeting, Teton School District 401 Board of Trustees began a discussion around the rule that K-5 students must wear masks at recess if they want to play within 6 feet of one another.

Idaho health officials hope to have 80% of residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by early fall.

BOISE — The COVID-19 cluster that formed last month in the Idaho Capitol building infected at least 14 people who live in four different regions of the state.

BOISE — Idaho Gov. Brad Little issued an executive order Wednesday banning state government from requiring or issuing COVID-19 “vaccine passports.”

As of April 5, all Idaho adults and teens aged 16 and up are eligible to receive the Covid vaccine, and in Teton County health care providers are working to put as many shots in arms as possible.

While Idaho prepares to let all adults access COVID-19 vaccines, state health officials are also bracing for a time when vaccine supply will outpace demand.

COVID-19 infections climb to 15

A day before the final two county-level mask mandates expired in eastern Idaho, two of the region's most populated counties were the nation's worst COVID-19 hotspots.

Before the end of April, every Idahoan age 16 and up will be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.

As the March 18 deadline for the end of the Eastern Idaho Public Health mask-wearing mandate in Teton County looms, the elected officials of Teton County, Driggs, and Victor are united in keeping their own requirements in place until regional ICU occupancy is under 75 percent for at least th…

The Crazy Horse Hill Climb snowmobile race, hosted by the Rocky Mountain States Hillclimb Association with help from the Skyliners Motor Club, will not be happening this year.

Stepping away from pandemic-related restrictions as infections rise but hospital capacity remains stable, the Eastern Idaho Public Health board on Thursday revamped its plan and signaled it would rely on people to choose whether to adhere to pandemic precautions.

Idaho’s top health leader said if the COVID-19 vaccine supply continues to rise, the state’s weekly inventory could more than double within a month and secure a path to reach “some sense of normalcy” by summer’s end.

Eastern Idaho Public Health is letting essential workers in a handful of industries sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine waitlist.

Idaho COVID-19 vaccine planners have decided who to put at the front of the line for virus shots. But they are in a pickle as they decide how to structure the rest of the line.

Long after its sister counties in eastern Idaho were downgraded to moderate or low risk categories, on the evening of Feb. 17 Teton County's Covid risk status was finally moved from critical to high. 

Teton Valley Health did not receive its shipment of Covid vaccines this week because of winter weather impacting other parts of the country. That means tomorrow's vaccination clinic, sponsored by Teton Valley partners, has been moved to Feb. 26. 

BOISE — An Idaho senator tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, and the Senate is being warned of the possible exposure. Today, Sen. Van Burtenshaw, R-Terreton, was absent and appointed former Sen. Jeff Siddoway, also from Terreton, to fill in for him indefinitely.

The pandemic has disrupted a wide variety of community functions. It’s changed everything from grocery shopping and eating at restaurants to how medical facilities and public transportation operate. An element of the community that is more easily overlooked, however, is law enforcement and t…

EIPH switches to lottery system

The COVID-19 vaccine rollout for Priority Group 2.2, adults age 65 and older, began this Monday, Feb. 1. All appointments for Teton County seniors will be on Thursdays between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Driggs LDS Church.

Grand Targhee Resort announced on Wednesday its decision not to hold the popular Targhee and Bluegrass music festivals for the second summer in a row due to the uncertainty around COVID.

Clad in a puffy coat, hat, and mask, Eva Marmsater ambled around the massive snow sculpture taking shape in downtown Driggs. Along with her husband, she marveled at the intricacy of the carving and the whimsy captured in the faces of the creatures rafting the snowy wave. Carefully pulling do…

Regional health officials voted early Monday morning to toss all local event and gathering caps, citing confusion among school leaders over shifting public health restrictions from the state and the local agency.

Idaho has some idea of who its front-line essential workers are — those who are at incredibly high risk to be exposed to the virus and will be given early access to vaccines.

On Jan. 18, Teton School District 401 staff members filed in and out of the Teton High cafeteria to receive their first doses of the COVID-19 Moderna vaccine.

This week brought more positive COVID-19 metrics.

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…

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.

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.

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.