Update: 4th person dies of coronavirus in Tri-Cities, health officials report

A fourth person has died of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area, according to the Benton Franklin Health District.

All four deaths have been in Benton County. The latest death was a woman in her 90s.

On Thursday, the number of confirmed and probable cases, including those who have died, increased to 37.

That includes 26 in Benton County and 11 in Franklin County.

Another 284 people tested negative in Benton County and 108 in Franklin County, according to the latest numbers.

The health district also is aware of reports of multiple people with COVID-19-like illness in the two counties who are waiting for test results, it said.

“The community should continue to abide by all social distancing recommendations,” it said.

The health district confirmed a Franklin County man in his 30s had COVID-19 on Wednesday, but had no additional information available about him.

As the number of cases increases, the health district will not be able to provide as much information about each case, as it did earlier in the outbreak, it said.

It also has released no names because of medical privacy issues.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the state jumped to 2,580 on Wednesday, an increase of 111 cases. Nine more deaths were reported, bringing the total in the state to 132.

There were cases in at least 33 of the state’s 39 counties.

Yakima, Spokane and Grant counties have each been hard hit in Eastern Washington.

Yakima County has 51 cases and one death, according to the state Department of Health. Spokane County has 54 cases and no deaths. Grant County has 27 cases and one death.

The center of the outbreak remains King County in Western Washington, with 1,359 cases and 94 deaths, according to the Department of Health.

This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 2:59 PM with the headline "Update: 4th person dies of coronavirus in Tri-Cities, health officials report."