Blaine County public schools will start the year wearing masks on Monday after the trustees voted 4-1 to adopt a suite of COVID-19 safety plans during a special meeting Thursday night.

With at-risk people now eligible for a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, St. Luke's is reallocating resources to administer the additional booster shot, the health system said Wednesday.

As COVID-19 cases continue to be fueled by the highly transmissible delta variant, the South Central Public Health District has moved Blaine County’s COVID risk level from “moderate” to “high.”

The South Central Public Health District moved Blaine County’s COVID-19 risk level from “moderate” to “high” on Thursday, noting that regional hospitals are being challenged by an increase in COVID-19 patients that has diminished capacity to the “critical” level.

The St. Luke’s Health System announced Wednesday that it is pausing certain elective surgeries and medical procedures that require an overnight stay due to high numbers of patients in its medical centers and increased numbers of hospitalizations caused by COVID-19.

The Blaine County School Board will hold a special meeting on Tuesday to finalize COVID-19 safety protocols for the first day of classes later this month, carrying over a lengthy discussion on mask requirements from its regular session this week.

The Hailey City Council on Monday extended the city’s COVID-19 emergency health order until February 9, 2022. The health order advises, but does not require, unvaccinated residents to wear face coverings.

Sun Valley city leaders are assessing a surge in COVID-19 cases in Idaho and the rest of the United States, but the mayor is stating that he is not currently planning to have the City Council consider any new emergency health orders as a response.

With Blaine County students scheduled to return to classrooms on Aug. 23, pupils, parents and School District staff are contemplating what the realities of yet another start to a school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic will be.

The Blaine County school board will focus on its back-to-school COVID-19 protocols during its regular August meeting Tuesday night at 6 p.m.—the last time the board is scheduled to convene before classes start in less than two weeks’ time.

With COVID-19 cases increasing in Idaho and the highly transmissible delta variant becoming the dominant strain of the virus, Gov. Brad Little is encouraging more state residents to get vaccinated, in part to help children have a safe and effective environment at school.

After the South Central Public Health District determined Blaine County’s COVID-19 risk level to be “moderate” on Thursday, July 29, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has continued to rate the county’s coronavirus transmission level as “substantial.”

The Blaine County School District has partnered with the South Central Public Health District and Luke’s Family Pharmacy to hold two upcoming vaccination clinics for students and staff members. The clinics will include routine vaccinations, as well as COVID-19 vaccinations for people 12 and older.

Blaine County’s COVID-19 risk level was determined to be “moderate” on Thursday, July 29, in an assessment conducted by the South Central Public Health District.

As COVID-19 cases mount again in Idaho and across the country, doctors and other health-care experts are warning that a return to normal, pre-COVID life that Americans are seeking could be jeopardized if more eligible people don’t get vaccinated against the virus.

A nationwide eviction moratorium implemented last year is set to expire on Saturday, July 31, potentially leading to a number of evictions due to unpaid back rents. But millions of dollars in federal assistance are available for qualified Idaho applicants, as well as funding from local nonpr…

An undisclosed number of staff at the Cove of Cascadia skilled nursing facility in Bellevue have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting an indefinite lockdown to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.

As COVID-19 cases increase in all 50 states and Idaho’s largest health-care system warns of another surge, Blaine County remained at “minimal” risk for the virus Thursday, July 15.

As COVID-19 cases increase in all 50 states, Blaine County’s risk level for the virus was determined to be “minimal” on Thursday, July 15.

The first lab-confirmed case of the highly contagious Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus has been discovered in Twin Falls County, and there are likely other, undiscovered cases in the region, the South Central Public Health District announced on Thursday.

The St. Luke’s Health System is requiring all of its health-care providers and employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare is offering free, at-home COVID-19 tests to Idaho residents.

Blaine County’s COVID-19 case rate has ticked upward in recent weeks, but remains low enough to help keep the county’s designated risk level at “minimal.”

Blaine County has moved to a new plan for assessing and responding to the risk to public health posed by COVID-19.