There were still no positive cases of COVID-19 reported as of Saturday afternoon in southeastern Washington or north central Idaho, even as cases continued to mount elsewhere in the neighboring states.

Idaho Public Health North Central District Director Carol Moehrle said no new test results came in Saturday. She didn’t expect any test results today, either, since the state lab is closed.

Asotin County Public Health Administrator Brady Woodbury said there are now nine total negative test results from either the Washington State Department of Health lab or labs working with the state.

He said the pace of testing had not increased at all Saturday. Health officials around the country continue to report a shortage of testing supplies and long turnaround times to receive results, with wait times stretching as long as 10 days.

Woodbury asked everyone to do their part to help stop the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

“We want to double down on pleading with people to stay home as much as possible and continue to practice social distancing as much as possible,” he said in a text message to the Lewiston Tribune.

Nez Perce Tribe spokeswoman Kayeloni Scott also reported zero positive test results as of Saturday, although she noted that Nimiipuu Health is only open Monday through Friday. And Garfield County Health District Administrator Martha Lanman reported no positive results. Only five tests have been administered there, she said, with two negative results and three pending.

Elsewhere in Idaho, public health officials in southern Idaho reported they are working with the Middleton School District after a confirmed case of COVID-19 was identified in an Ada County resident who had been in Middleton Middle School on March 11 and 12, when he may have been contagious.

The school district and officials are working to identify those who may have come into close contact with the individual, according to a news release from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

And in the Eastern Idaho Public Health District, two additional cases of COVID-19 were confirmed Saturday, bringing its total to four. Two cases are in Madison County and two cases are in Teton County. One of the new individuals, a woman younger than 50, tested positive Friday. She was not hospitalized and is self-isolating at home, and is suspected of contracting the virus from travel out of the country.

The other person is a man younger than 70 who tested positive Saturday. He was also not hospitalized and is self-isolating at home. Epidemiologists with the health district continue to investigate the cases to determine if others were exposed to the virus, according to a news release.

The areas closest to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley with reported positive cases remain Spokane County in Washington and Kootenai County in Idaho. Idaho had 42 positive cases as of Saturday evening, with half of them in Blaine County, where Gov. Brad Little imposed an isolation order Friday evening. Western Washington continued to be one of the epicenters of the spread of the virus in the U.S., with nearly 1,500 out of almost 1,800 total cases in King and Snohomish counties.

Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2266