BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Members of an Idaho health department board have voted to repeal a local mask mandate despite hearing a hospital was overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients. Similar scenes of doctors and nurses asking officials for help, only to be met with reluctance or even open skepticism, have played out across the conservative state. Idaho is sixth in the nation for new coronavirus cases per capita, with the average number of new confirmed cases increasing by more than 55% every day over the past two weeks. Republican Gov. Brad Little has repeatedly left decisions on mask rules up to local health departments.