Gov. Brad Little announced recently that the state will remain in Stage 4 of reopening for at least another two weeks, as hospitalizations for COVID-19 run above metrics for moving out of the reopening plan’s final stage.

“I do not classify staying in Stage 4 as a failure. Statewide, our numbers and metrics are looking pretty good,” Little said at a news conference at the state Capitol’s Lincoln Auditorium. “In fact, even in many of the ‘hot spots,’ we are seeing encouraging trends. But that is not a reason to let our guard down. As we approach fall, the opportunity for community spread will increase and we need to ramp up our personal actions.”

With flu season approaching, the governor called on Idahoans to get flu shots. He also encouraged Idahoans to continue preventive practices, including wearing a mask in public; avoiding large gatherings of people, especially indoors; keeping at least 6 feet of physical distance from others; washing hands and cleaning surfaces regularly; and staying home if sick.

“For months now, Idaho’s economy has been open,” Little said. “People have returned to work safely, children have started to return to schools for in-person instruction in most parts of the state. We have managed to do that without maxing out health care capacity statewide.”

However, he said, “The number of overall hospitalizations for COVID statewide is still too high.”

State epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn said, “We are looking pretty much like we did two week ago. Our case rates are declining. They have been declining now for several weeks.” She added, “The percentage of tests that are positive are declining, and we’re now just over 8 percent positive.” But, she said, “It’s not where we need to be.”

“We are not feeling safe and secure,” Hahn said. “And as the governor mentioned, we know that with flu season coming, with more people coming indoors, with the Labor Day weekend approaching, we are concerned that people will be gathering together more, there will be more chances for transmission, and we’re very concerned whether we’ll be able to keep going in this downward trend.”

Said Little, “We are concerned about where we are on the calendar.”

Stage 4, which allows virtually all businesses to open while maintaining limits on large gatherings, requirements for social distancing and recommendations for masking, started June 13. Thursday marked the sixth time the governor has extended Stage 4; whether or not to continue it is evaluated every two weeks.

Asked how long the state is likely to stay in Stage 4, Little said, “The data will tell us.”

“You can’t argue with the bulk of the trend,” he said. “It’s pretty good, but it’s not where it needs to be.”

Asked about the prospect of the state remaining in Stage 4 throughout the flu season or throughout the winter, Little said, “Well, it’d be better than Stage 3.” Stage 3 has more limitations, including forbidding visits to long-term care facilities and jails. Though Idaho is in Stage 4 statewide, Ada County was moved back into Stage 3 on June 24 by the Central Health District Department, due to extensive community spread of COVID-19.

Moving out of Stage 4 would not end Idaho’s current state of emergency, the governor said. “There’s an emergency that exists,” he said. “In every state, there’s some sort of emergency right now. We’re not an island in Idaho.”

The governor also said even after Idaho moves out of Stage 4, health guidelines would remain in place. “There’s still things that are going to be different than what we did in January, until we have either a vaccine or until we have basically more people protected.”

Little offered a heartfelt defense of the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, and said he believes most Idahoans are with him.

“I recognize the tension out there,” he said. “I not only understand their frustration, but I share it. It has been a great challenge to balance all the public’s expectations during this pandemic, but time and time again we have stuck to the facts and the science in our response to the coronavirus pandemic.”

He shared a question he was asked by a woman from Jerome during a recent AARP call, who said she’s over 70 and as diabetes. The woman told him, he said, “I’m tired of people acting like my life doesn’t matter.”

Little said more than a third of Idaho residents have factors that put them at high risk for serious complications if they contract COVID-19, and that has to be taken into account in the state’s responses.

“These are our neighbors, family members and loved ones,” he said. “The number of Idahoans doing the right thing far exceeds the people of Idaho who are skeptical of the pandemic.”

Hahn said Idaho has eliminated one of the metrics it was using in decisions on moving from one stage of reopening to the next: The tally of new infections among health care workers. That’s still being monitored, she said, but it’s no longer being considered as a staging metric because it proved to be a lagging statistic, with it sometimes taking two weeks after infection before it was determined that the infected person was a health care worker.

“That’s just too long,” she said.

Hahn said she’s looking for a different metric to replace it, that also gets at the aspect of Idaho health care capacity that has to do with workers, not just equipment.

“We can have ventilators, but if there’s nobody there to run them, it doesn’t matter,” she said.

The governor also thanked lawmakers and law enforcement for their work during the recent three-day special session of the Legislature. “Their work will help ensure our election will be safe and secure,” he said, “and business, schools and churches responsibly operating during the pandemic can be protected.”

Idaho Press reporters Thomas Plank and Ashley Miller contributed.