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COVID-19

Kootenai County confirms 2 new COVID-19 cases for total of 8; several cities have closed dine-in restaurants

Bar stools are turned upside down at the Moose Lounge in Coeur d'Alene on Monday, March 23, 2020. Bars and restaurants are now closed in most of North Idaho due to COVID-19. (Kathy Plonka / The Spokesman-Review)

Kootenai County confirmed two new COVID-19 cases Tuesday afternoon, bringing the local total to eight.

Shoshone, Benewah, Bonner and Boundary counties do not have confirmed cases, according to the Panhandle Health District.

Government officials in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Hayden, Rathdrum, Spirit Lake, Hayden Lake, Hauser, Huetter and Athol have ordered all bars and dine-in restaurants to close to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, according to the Kootenai County Office of Emergency Management. Takeout and delivery services are allowed during the closures.

The new Kootenai County patients include a female in her 20s and a male in his 60s who are both self-isolating at home, according to the Panhandle Health District. Public health officials are working to determine whom they may have come in close contact with while infected and told their household members to self-isolate.

Of the eight total patients, one is younger than 18 and three are older than 50, according to the health district. None of those people has been hospitalized.

Idaho had 90 confirmed cases statewide as of Tuesday evening, an increase of 25 from the state health department’s count of 65 on Monday, according to local health districts. Forty-two of those cases were in Blaine County, where local officials reported community transmission of the disease and residents were ordered to shelter in place. All public schools in the state will be closed until at least April 20.