STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

The Sun Valley Writer’s Conference has become the latest casualty of the coronavirus in Sun Valley.

Organizers said the current situation makes it impossible for the conference to safely confirm the travel, logistics and participation of those who had planned to come.

“We have agonized over whether to delay or cancel. But it appears that the arc of full recovery will reach beyond our ability to effectively plan for July,” said the conference’s Executive Director Robin Eidsmo.

The conference had been scheduled for July 18 to 21 at Sun Valley Resort.

“First and foremost, our hearts go out to everyone in Blaine County and elsewhere whose lives have been upended in the face of this devastating crisis,” added Eidsmo. “Literature and the arts are absolutely central to the Sun Valley area and provide critical nourishment for all of us, especially during times like these.

“This was a difficult decision. We know this will have an impact on the community and we will do everything we can to lessen the blow. Without a doubt, the conference has a long life, both behind us and ahead of us and we will be back in full flower in beautiful Sun Valley next summer—July 17-20.”

Staff members are working through the details surrounding cancellations and will communicate with this year’s donors and attendees within a couple of weeks. They are also working to bring the voices of the 2020 writers to a digital audience in imaginative ways during the coming months.

LOCALLY:

The number of confirmed cases in Blaine County increased from 351 to 405 on Friday. At 351 cases the rate was 1,594 per 100,000 residents.

Statewide 1,015 cases have been confirmed with community spread in 12 of 44 counties.

A woman in Twin Falls County has died becoming Idaho’s tenth fatality. She was over 70, hospitalized and had complicating health factors, according to South Central Public Health District.

As of Friday morning, 1,851 Idahoans had been tested through the Idaho Bureau of Laboratories, which restricts testing for critically ill and health care workers; 6,094 have been tested through commercial laboratories.

Fifty-six people have been hospitalized and seven admitted to intensive care units. Forty-six health care workers have tested positive.

Boise is considering setting up tents at Idaho Ice World and Boise State University’s Pavilion as they prepare for a surge of COVID-19 patients. Hospitals are looking at retrofitting hospital conference rooms, medical imaging centers and pre-and post-operation rooms and office spaces to hold patients.

Up to 14 patients could need a bed in intensive care for every bed there is, the Harvard Global Health Institute predicted a couple weeks ago.

Forty Idaho National Guard troops are working at food banks in Boise and elsewhere.

 A University of Washington study estimates Idaho’s cases of the coronavirus will peak around April 26. Idaho could lose 550 to 1,300 people to the disease if the United States ends up with between 100,000 and 240,000 deaths as federal health officials project.

Idaho has 192 physicians per 100,000 people—the 49^th lowest ratio in the country. That has prompted St. Luke’s Health System to ask retired health care workers to volunteer in its hospitals. They also plan to recruit health care workers from throughout the country.

Dr. David Pate, who serves on the Governor’s Coronavirus Task Force, says Idaho’s cases are going up and so are the number of people being admitted to ICUs and put on ventilators. And that’s just due to more testing, as we’re doing very small amount of testing relatively speaking, he told Boise Public Radio.

In excess of 80 percent of those who are infected can manage their symptoms at home. But those with profound shortness of breath cannot.

Pate said health officials think the apex for Idaho will come between April 21 and 25.

“We’ve been fortunate so far that we’ve had fewer deaths, but we’re going to have many more deaths and we have to be prepared for that,” he said. “Things are going to get worse in April. It’s still going to be rough in May.”

And there will be more waves beyond this first one.

Pate said officials are not sure what is going to happen come summer.

“There are reasons to be optimistic and hopeful that the transmission of this virus is going to decrease. And, so, if we are effective at flattening this first curve, I do think there will come a time in the next couple or several months that we may be able to loosen up the restrictions. I still don’t think we’re going to be going to big crowds. But we may not be as tightened down as we are.”

There’s also the possibility that we may be able to measure who is immune and who got COVID-19 and now is immune and could be the frontline workers that can go back to work first.

“We will not be living the rest of our lives like this,” he added.

Saint Alphonsus Hospital currently has enough personal protective equipment, Dr. Darrin Lee told BSU Public Radio. The challenge is that, as with groceries, you always have a few days or maybe a few weeks on hand, not months or years.

Not everyone is on board with the Governor’s Stay-Home Ordeer. The Bonner County Sheriff has asked Idaho’s governor to assemble the state legislature to reconsider the order. Daryl Wheeler is challenging information disseminated by the World Health Organization, adding that this is nothing but a serious flu season.

Ninety-six percent of Americans are now under a stay-home order. Several states have resisted stay-at-home orders: Arkansas, Iowa, North Dakota, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.

 A FEW BRIGHT NOTES:

• Dr. Anthony Fauci is now immortalized as a bobblehead.
• Switzerland has illuminated the Matterhorn with the word “Hope.”
• Medical Detection Dogs in England is testing dogs to see if they can provide a rapid-non-invasive diagnosis of the coronavirus, as dogs already do with cancer, Parkinson’s disease and bacterial infections.
• A college student in Kentucky has made facemasks with plastic inserts that allow the deaf to read lips and facial expressions.
• The medieval fortress town of Zahara de la Sierra in hard-hit Spain cut off all but one entrance on March 14. And there has not been a single case of COVID-19 among its 1,400 inhabitants, nearly a quarter of whom are older than 65. Cars coming through the lone checkpoint are disinfected with bleach and water, according to CNN. And twice weekly workers head out onto the streets to disinfect streets plazas and the outsides of homes.

  Supermarkets deliver groceries and medical supplies to reduce the number of people on the streets. And a women’s association leaves food at the doors of elderly and arranges basic repairs for them.

• The Centers for Disease Control is now recommending that Americans voluntarily wear facemasks in public. A new study published in the journal “Nature” shows that people are most contagious before symptoms ramp up.