Health
Idaho Gov. offers paid time off for COVID vaccine, calls on businesses to follow suit
Idaho Gov. Brad Little is taking the lead on offering paid time off to employees who get the COVID-19 vaccine. “This morning, I informed Idaho state employees we’re offering them a new benefit – four hours of paid leave if they have received or choose to receive the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine!” Little said […]
What’s the COVID-19 vaccination rate at Idaho’s care facilities? We don’t know.
A bare minimum of 10,000 residents and 7,000 staff at Idaho long term care facilities have chosen to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, based on data provided to the Idaho Capital Sun by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. That’s nearly twice the number of COVID-19 cases that facilities have reported during the pandemic, according […]
Marjorie Taylor Greene in new attack on Fauci demands his salary be stripped
WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia on Tuesday led a group of House Republicans calling for the firing of Dr. Anthony Fauci, formalizing their intense criticism of his public statements and actions throughout the coronavirus pandemic into legislation. Those GOP lawmakers can’t actually oust Fauci from his post as director of the National […]
Want a free, at-home COVID-19 test? In Idaho, just dial 2-1-1.
Idahoans who may have COVID-19 can now easily request a saliva test kit to use in their home, with results in one to three days. The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare announced Tuesday that it now offers free at-home COVID-19 tests to Idaho residents. Dial 2-1-1 to request them. The orders require no personal […]
In mental health crises, a 911 call can now bring a team of helpers — and maybe no cops
By the time Kiki Radermacher, a mental health therapist, arrived at a Missoula, Montana, home on an emergency 911 call in late May, the man who had called for help was backed into a corner and yelling at police officers. The home, which he was renting, was about to be sold. He had called […]
Troubled Maryland plant told to toss part of the J&J vaccine ingredient it manufactured
WASHINGTON — Federal health regulators have instructed Maryland’s Emergent BioSolutions to scrap some batches of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine substance manufactured at the company’s troubled Baltimore plant, while clearing a small portion to be used in the U.S. or sent abroad. Two batches of the J&J vaccine substance made in Baltimore were deemed “suitable […]
OSHA tells employers how to keep workers safe, including paid time off for COVID vaccine
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Thursday announced an emergency temporary standard to protect health care workers from catching and spreading the coronavirus, as well as general guidance for other employers. “Too many of our frontline health care workers continue to be at high risk of contracting the coronavirus,” said U.S. Secretary of […]
Frustrated local leaders urge Congress to move faster on regulating PFAS
WASHINGTON—Local officials and community leaders on Wednesday pushed Congress to designate toxic chemicals that are contaminating drinking water as hazardous materials, which would trigger federal cleanup standards. In addition, two Democratic senators from Michigan, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, introduced legislation that would put additional obligations on the Pentagon to initiate cleanup at military bases. […]
More than 90% of Idaho’s COVID cases now are among the unvaccinated
More than 90% of newly diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in Idaho “have no record of being vaccinated” against the coronavirus, Idaho Deputy State Epidemiologist Dr. Kathryn Turner said Tuesday. The numbers underscore how effective the vaccines have been, not only in controlled clinical trials. A study published Monday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control […]
I’d love to settle down in Idaho. The Legislature advocating for more residencies, fellowships could help.
According to Psychiatry News, there are five psychiatrists per 100,000 people in Idaho. The nearest adult psychiatrist is an hour’s drive away, while the nearest child psychiatrist is about three hours away. This is a problem, and rural communities in Idaho and other Western states deserve high quality health care, including mental health care. Idaho […]
16,000 school-aged kids in Idaho caught COVID-19. That’s not what school reports said.
Idaho schools did not know about, or report, more than half of COVID-19 cases among students in the last school year, according to an Idaho Capital Sun data analysis. More than 16,000 school-aged children in Idaho had COVID-19 between the first week of September and May 22. But the statewide summary of COVID-19 cases linked […]
Pandemic fallout: Idaho health department responds to need for depression, anxiety resources
The oldest caller to the Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline since it launched in 2012 was 92 years old, while the youngest was just 7 years old. And as the COVID-19 pandemic has gripped the state, Idahoans of all ages have needed more mental health resources to get by. During the first three months of 2021, […]