Post by Jaga on Apr 3, 2020 22:15:45 GMT -7
The largest concentration of Coronavirus cases is in Sun Valley and Central Idaho.
www.washingtonpost.com/national/tourists-brought-prosperity-to-an-idaho-ski-valley-they-also-brought-covid-19/2020/04/01/661b2166-737e-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html
Tourists brought prosperity to an Idaho ski valley. They also brought covid-19.
The snow-capped peaks of Idaho’s Wood River Valley are a magnet for movie stars and other wealthy tourists who throng to the area each winter bearing their skis, their appetites and their cash. They come for the soft powder, stay for the parties at top-class restaurants and pump money into an otherwise remote wilderness region where the howl of wolves echoes through the night.
But this year, somewhere between the lifts and the lodge, the tourists left behind something else: a deadly virus.
Now the valley is a coronavirus hot spot, registering one of the highest infection rates per capita in the country. With 192 cases in a county of just 22,000 people — including two deaths — the share of the population testing positive is greater than even in New York City.
The impact has been dramatic: The small hospital in Ketchum, the region’s hub, has partially shut down after four of its seven emergency doctors were quarantined. Patients are being ferried to facilities hours away. The fire department is relying on fresh-faced volunteers, trained in a day, to drive ambulances.
The area is particularly popular among tourists from Seattle, with direct flights to the small regional airport. Health experts say visitors from the area with the nation’s first coronavirus outbreak probably brought it to Idaho in the early days of the pandemic, before states and municipalities nationwide began to implement extreme restrictions intended to slow the spread.
Russell, the doctor, said he believes he contracted the virus before there were any confirmed cases in Idaho. An avid skier, he said innocuous-seeming conversations with visitors may have been the culprit.
“People think that skiing is a low-risk activity,” he said. “But you’re on a chairlift for two-thirds of the time, and you’re turning to face people to talk to them.”
Blaine County had its first two positive test results on March 14.
www.washingtonpost.com/national/tourists-brought-prosperity-to-an-idaho-ski-valley-they-also-brought-covid-19/2020/04/01/661b2166-737e-11ea-87da-77a8136c1a6d_story.html
Tourists brought prosperity to an Idaho ski valley. They also brought covid-19.
The snow-capped peaks of Idaho’s Wood River Valley are a magnet for movie stars and other wealthy tourists who throng to the area each winter bearing their skis, their appetites and their cash. They come for the soft powder, stay for the parties at top-class restaurants and pump money into an otherwise remote wilderness region where the howl of wolves echoes through the night.
But this year, somewhere between the lifts and the lodge, the tourists left behind something else: a deadly virus.
Now the valley is a coronavirus hot spot, registering one of the highest infection rates per capita in the country. With 192 cases in a county of just 22,000 people — including two deaths — the share of the population testing positive is greater than even in New York City.
The impact has been dramatic: The small hospital in Ketchum, the region’s hub, has partially shut down after four of its seven emergency doctors were quarantined. Patients are being ferried to facilities hours away. The fire department is relying on fresh-faced volunteers, trained in a day, to drive ambulances.
The area is particularly popular among tourists from Seattle, with direct flights to the small regional airport. Health experts say visitors from the area with the nation’s first coronavirus outbreak probably brought it to Idaho in the early days of the pandemic, before states and municipalities nationwide began to implement extreme restrictions intended to slow the spread.
Russell, the doctor, said he believes he contracted the virus before there were any confirmed cases in Idaho. An avid skier, he said innocuous-seeming conversations with visitors may have been the culprit.
“People think that skiing is a low-risk activity,” he said. “But you’re on a chairlift for two-thirds of the time, and you’re turning to face people to talk to them.”
Blaine County had its first two positive test results on March 14.