6th coronavirus death in Tri-Cities. Cases climb to 167

A sixth Tri-Citian has died from COVID-19 and the number of others infected has climbed 20 percent since Monday.

The Tri-Cities area now has 167 cases, up from 139, reported the Benton Franklin Health District.

They include 121 cases in Benton County and 46 cases in Franklin County.

Benton County cases include 89 confirmed by testing for the new coronavirus and 32 additional cases in which testing was not done but people developed symptoms after close contact with a person who tested positive.

Franklin County cases include 33 confirmed by testing and 13 additional cases.

A Benton County woman in her 70’s is the latest confirmed death, said the health district. They learned of her death on Tuesday.

All the COVID-19 deaths have been in Benton County. And all the victims have been in their 70s or older.

The senior living centers continue to be hard hit.

Four of the six deaths are linked to senior living centers.

Five retirement homes, nursing homes or other long-term care homes have cases, either in employees or residents. There were a total of 50 cases.

Regency at Canyon Lakes had the most cases, at 23. Life Care Center of Richland has 14 cases, said the agency.

And the health department now says 32 healthcare workers are among those with COVID-19. They are at clinics, hospitals and long-term care facilities.

The health district’s negative test result numbers were not immediately updated on Tuesday.

So far, they report 560 negative test results for the new coronavirus in Benton County residents and 194 negative test results in Franklin County residents.

This story was originally published March 31, 2020 at 1:45 PM.