Idaho's coronavirus cases are climbing so fast the state can’t keep up with processing them.

The state's coronavirus website said “due to the recent surge in infections, case investigation data are missing approximately 11,200 outstanding positive laboratory results that are pending local public health district review and follow-up.”

The Panhandle Health District reported it had a backlog of 1,605 cases.

The state reported 1,905 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the most in a single day since it had 2,298 cases on Dec. 9 — nearly 10 months ago.

And in September alone, the state reported 544 deaths attributed to the coronavirus, and 35,933 new cases.

Kootenai Health had another record-high of 120 coronavirus inpatients on Thursday, with 41 requiring critical care. There were two COVID-19 pediatric patients.

Jeremy Evans, Kootenai Health chief regional operations officer, said Wednesday that hospitals in Spokane and throughout the state of Idaho remain busy with limited capacity for transfers or new admissions.

He said the staff is “working diligently. They're very committed to our patients in our community. But we are still short to meet that additional surge and meet the demands of all this capacity.”

He said the federal staffing resources received over the past couple of weeks have been a "tremendous help" and their coverage has been extended into November.

Evans said other hospitals and clinics have allocated 15 to 20 staff members to come and work an extra shift at Kootenai Health as it operates under crisis standards of care.

"We appreciate their help," he said. "But again, we continue to have a gap to meet the need."

The state’s coronavirus positivity rate, meanwhile, fell for the second straight week to 15.4% based on 44,445 PCR tests.

Kootenai County’s coronavirus positivity rate, however, climbed to 20.5% based on 3,794 PCR tests for the week ending Sept. 25, while the PHD’s was up slightly, 19.8%, based on 5,371 tests.

Doctors nationwide have said they are seeing an increase in the number of younger coronavirus patients because the delta variant spreads faster and easier.

In Idaho, there have nearly 33,000 COVID-19 cases of those under the age of 18, but no deaths, according to state’s website.

Of the PHD's 480 COVID-19 deaths, 447, or 93%, have been people over the age of 60. The deaths of five people under the age of 40 in Idaho been attributed to the coronavirus.

Gov. Brad Little and other health officials continue to urge people to get vaccinated to slow the spread of the virus.

"It has great science behind it in decreasing infections and hospitalizations," said Kootenai Health Dr. Robert Scoggins.