Tri-City man is 2nd coronavirus victim. He had close contact with an ill person

A second person has died in Benton County from COVID-19, the Benton Franklin Health District said Friday.

It brings the number of confirmed cases in Benton County to three, including the two deaths. Franklin County has two cases.

The latest death reported was a man in his 80s who died last week, but did not have a positive test result.

The health district said he had close contact with a confirmed case and symptoms typical of exposure to the novel coronavirus.

The first death was a woman in her 80s who lived with her husband at Bonaventure Senior Living in Richland. She had underlying health conditions.

The health district is not releasing additional details of the latest death reported and it could not be confirmed if it was related to the woman who died.

However, the husband of the woman who was the first reported COVID-19 death in the Tri-Cities also died after she went to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland on March 12. She died two or three days later.

Bonaventure said it believed her husband died of a heart attack on Saturday, but did not have specifics because the woman and her husband had a suite in the center’s independent living center and received no on-site medical care.

COVID-19 is not listed as a cause of death on his death certificate, said Benton County Coroner Bill Leach. Leach is not planning any further investigation.

The couple had traveled to the Redmond, Wash, area March 2-4 and she was not feeling well when they returned, according to Bonaventure. Redmond is in King County, the heart of the coronavirus outbreak in Washington state.

The couple voluntarily self-quarantined in their suite because of the wife’s illness from the time they returned to the Tri-Cities until she went to the hospital March 12. They had no contact with Bonaventure staff while they self-quarantined.

The first person to test positive in the Tri-Cities was a woman in her 20s with underlying health conditions, who was hospitalized. The case was reported on Tuesday.

On Thursday the health district reported that a Franklin County man in his 40s had tested positive for coronavirus and was recovering at home.

In addition, a Benton County man in his 70s with underlying health conditions had tested positive and was being treated in a hospital.

Statewide update

The state Department of Health’s latest numbers Friday reported that 83 people have died and 1,524 people have confirmed positive test results for the virus.

That was an increase of 148 cases and nine deaths since Thursday.

King County remains the hardest hit, with 793 cases and 67 deaths, followed by Snohomish County with 385 cases and 8 deaths, and Pierce County with 83 cases and 1 death.

Nearly 21,720 people tested in the state had negative results, said health officials.

This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 2:14 PM.