Treasure Valley hospital officials told reporters on Thursday they’re preparing for another surge driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant. Idaho has seen a slight increase in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, as well as an increase in ICU admissions.

The state positivity rate has risen to 17 percent, up from 8.6 the previous week. That’s the fastest one-week rise on record in the pandemic. That varies by district, with 19.5 percent in southern Idaho’s public health district 4, and 10.6 in southeastern Idaho.

Just before Christmas, the state deactivated crisis standards of care for the Panhandle Health District, the final remaining district that was still operating under crisis standards.

The counties with the highest seven day rolling average case rates are Blaine, Teton, Bonneville, Madison and Franklin.