Idaho governor issues statewide stay-at-home order

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday issued a statewide stay-at-home order as the coronavirus continues to spread.

Little announced the order will remain in effect for 21 days.

Idaho has more than 91 confirmed cases of COVID-19 spread throughout the state.

The stay-at-home order requires Idaho’s 1.75 million residents to self-isolate at home unless they are health care workers, public safety employees or other “essential workers” such as grocery store employees.

Little said some communities now had community spread, those areas being in central Idaho’s Blaine County and highly populated southwestern Idaho, which includes Boise. Community spread means it’s not clear where or from whom a person became infected.

“When you have community spread, you have to go the the next level, and that’s what we’re doing,” Little said.

The governor also issued a new “extreme emergency” declaration for the state, a step he said would allow him to take additional steps to expand the capacity of Idaho’s health care system.

“We are doing everything at the appropriate time,” Little said of the stay-at-home order. “We are all in this together.”

Washington and Oregon have also issued stay-at-home orders in recent days.

“Given where we are in the biology of this disease, it’s important to do now to get the message out to all of Idaho,” Little said.