BOISE, Idaho — Idaho's COVID-19 positivity rate rose to 38.8% the week of Jan. 16, marking the highest percentage during the pandemic and the fifth straight week of steep increases.
The positivity rate measures the proportion of laboratory COVID-19 tests taken by Idahoans that come back positive. The exceptionally high rate is yet another sign of omicron's reach within Idaho, where nearly 50,000 cases have been recorded since the start of January — more than 13% of all the cases recorded since the pandemic began.
And the recently recorded cases are well below the actual tally, since health officials are behind in recording some 42,000 positive test samples added recently, according to the state's data dashboard.
