IDAHO STATESMAN: Coronavirus casualty: Nearly 500 Idaho children lost a parent or caregiver to COVID-19

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“This is a huge red flag for everybody, both policymakers and the public, to recognize that this is going to have incredible impacts on children, not only now but throughout the rest of their life,” Hillarie Hagen, policy specialist at Idaho Voices for Children, said in a phone interview. “It’s shown just huge economic impacts as well as health impacts for kids.”

While the majority of deaths from COVID-19 are among people older than 70, we are starting to see the age of COVID-19 patients and deaths come down.

In Idaho, the mean age of those who have died of COVID-19 has dropped from 78 last December to 71 this September. Now, 11% of the COVID-related deaths in Idaho, 353 people, are younger than 60.”

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Idaho Maternal and Infant Healthcare Report 2023

Idaho Kids Covered originally published our Idaho Maternal and Infant Health Report in the fall of 2022.
One year later, maternal and infant health needs in Idaho have only grown. Yet, when we look at state trends, almost every single health data metric included in our last report has continued in the wrong direction.

More pregnant women, new moms, and babies in our state are dying—but most of these deaths are preventable. Idaho policymakers have the opportunity to consider what the data shows about the needs of families and act now to advance a set of broad state priorities that will improve birth outcomes, the health of infants, and the well-being of moms. Idaho moms and babies simply cannot afford another year of inaction.