Big jump in Tri-Cities area coronavirus cases. New total is 37, up from 21

Benton and Franklin counties have 16 more cases of the new coronavirus, the Benton Franklin Health District said on Thursday.

The updated total is 37, with 26 cases in Benton County and 11 in Franklin County.

Rick Dawson, a health district senior manager, attributed the increase in cases to more testing being completed and somewhat quicker turn around of test results.

The number of negative test results more than doubled in 24 hours to 392 for the two counties, he said.

The health district reported 284 negative test results in Benton County and 108 negative test results in Franklin County.

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 number of deaths in the Tri-Cities area from complications of COVID-19 remained at four on Thursday, all of them in Benton County.

The latest death was a woman in her 90s, announced on Wednesday. Earlier deaths included a man in his 70s, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 80s.

As the number of cases increases, the health district is not providing as much information about each case, as it did earlier in the outbreak, such as whether people are hospitalized or recovering at home.

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

This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Big jump in Tri-Cities area coronavirus cases. New total is 37, up from 21."