Crush the Curve Idaho: 'these are real conversations we need to be having' as cases rise

BOISE, ID (CBS2) — For a second wave of COVID-19, there needs to be a first. That's straight from Executive Director of Crush the Curve Idaho, Tina Upson.

"Boise and the Treasure Valley and where we are here, we haven't had coronavirus in a meaningful fashion come through our community," Upson explains.

She says that Idaho's curve is growing. The worst may be yet to come, and the state of Idaho needs to prepare before the fall.

Preparedness is Crush the Curve's top priority, which may be more difficult come regular flu season.

"The real goal is to figure out a way in the fall when everyone has normal viruses that are all going to look like COVID," Upson explains. "Strep throat, influenza, ear infection you name it, anything that spikes a fever will feed the fear of COVID."

She says Crush the Curve is working to address that issue.

Making sure Idaho remains open safely, especially for our most vulnerable communities.

"The struggle for us that's been surprising is things that are asked of others, wearing a face mask, for example, is so an elderly, or less fortunate or vulnerable doesn't die. And if we can't get people to comply over that message then at that point it becomes a lot of noise," Upson explains. "But what we know is that we will never get everyone to comply so instead we are concerned that it's late June and we aren't talking about where our testing capacity is truly at. We have announced five priority groups and we don't have the capacity to test the first one."

This creates a costly position for only our vulnerable, but our businesses who are bearing the brunt of this financially.

"We asked them to do something impossible, to be frank," Upson says. "My concern is that we aren't talking about what we need to be talking about and that is when we have an employee in my office who tests positive; then what? If someone tests positive at a homeless shelter; then what? Not only are we not providing testing according to the governor's guidelines, because no one wants to talk about that, I haven't even heard someone say what we do in these situations. So instead, we have been actively engaged and working."

Upson tells me that Crush the Curve just signed a contract with the state of Idaho as a rapid response team.

But, she says that Crush the Curve as a non-profit can only do so much.

"These are real conversations we need to be happening; that need to be organized across health care providers, and the clock is ticking and time isn't waiting," Upson explains.

For more information on Crush the Curve Idaho, click HERE.

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