2 more deaths in Tri-Cities area linked to coronavirus. Known cases jump 18%

Two more deaths linked to the new coronavirus were reported on Thursday, bringing the total victims in the Tri-Cities area to nine.

The two most recent deaths were both men in their 90s, said the Benton Franklin Health District.

The number of known cases increased from 189 on Wednesday to 223, or 18 percent, on Thursday in Benton and Franklin counties.

Benton County had 167 cases and Franklin County had 56.

Benton County cases include 130 confirmed by testing for the new coronavirus and 37 additional probable cases for which testing was not done, but people developed symptoms after close contact with a person who tested positive.

Franklin County cases include 41 confirmed by testing and 15 additional probable cases.

Not enough testing supplies have been available to test all people that physicians would like to to confirm COVID-19.

The cases in the two counties include 42 healthcare workers at hospitals, clinics or long-term care centers, an increase from 36 on Wednesday.

Deaths in Benton County

All deaths from complications of COVID-19 have been in Benton County. They include two people in their 70s, four people in their 80s and three people in their 90s.

At least five of the deaths were people who lived at long-term care homes or retirement centers.

Solstice Senior Living in Kennewick said Wednesday afternoon that one of its residents had died from complications of COVID-19.

Bonaventure Senior Living in Richland previously said that two resident with underlying health conditions in its independent living apartments had died.

Where others who died had lived has not been made public.

The number of residents and staff with COVID-19 in long-term care homes, including nursing homes and assisted living centers, and in retirement centers increased by 10 over 24 hours to 76 cases.

The new cases were all in staff and residents at the same five facilities that had cases as of Wednesday.

Regency Canyon Lakes in Kennewick had 32 cases, Life Care Center in Richland had 25 cases, Bonaventure Senior Living in Richland had 11 cases, Solstice had seven cases and Parkview Estates of Kennewick and 1 case, according to the Benton Franklin Health District.

The Benton Franklin Health District has brought in specialists from the Washington state Department of Health to help Tri-Cities senior living centers make sure they are using the best practices possible to protect residents from COVID-19.

Coronavirus by age

It does not take long for an infection brought into a facility where seniors are living — by a visitor, staff or a fellow resident — to spread rapidly, both because people are sharing space and because seniors are a vulnerable population, said Heather Hill, the local health district’s communicable disease program supervisor, in an interview for Kadlec on Call.

With a third of the known cases in the Tri-Cities linked to care and living centers for seniors, it is not surprising that the majority of cases are in Benton County, where most of the Tri-City area retirement and long term care homes are located, Hill said.

“We’ve known through this whole epidemic that the senior population is hit hard,” she said.

Some 38 of the known cases, or 17 percent, in Benton and Franklin counties are in people older than 80, according to a health district graphic. It showed one more case than the 223 the district listed by county.

Nineteen of the known cases are in people ages 71 to 8; 25 are in ages 61 to 70; 37 are in ages 51 to 60; 30 are in ages 41 to 50; 35 are in ages 31 to 40; 23 are in ages 21 to 30; and 17 are in ages 20 and younger.

The number of negative test results in Benton and Franklin county residents reported on Thursday was 987, up from 845 a day earlier.

They included 746 negative tests in Benton County and 241 in Franklin County.

COVID-19 testing

Increased access to testing supplies and shorter turnaround times for results have led to a flood of test results coming back in recent days and a steep increase in known COVID-19 cases, Hill said.

Within eight days the number of known cases increased from 37 to the current 223.

Tests still must be ordered by health care providers who follow Centers for Disease Control guidance to make sure that still limited testing supplies are used for those who would benefit most.

It is too soon to predict when cases might peak in the Tri-Cities area, Hill said.

COVID-19 cases in Washington state are expected to peak midway through this month, according to the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, but the outbreak hit earlier in Western Washington than in Eastern Washington.

Kadlec Regional Medical Center and its clinics are looking forward to another increase in testing speeds soon.

New tests are expected to be available within days that could allow tests to be run on site in five to 15 minutes, said Dr. Brian York, an infectious disease specialist with Kadlec clinics.

Kadlec is not sure yet what quantity of supplies for the new tests it will be able to purchase, which will determine how many patients can be given the tests.

There also are antibody tests being developed that are still likely months away from being available. But when they become available, tests can be done to see who may have been exposed, possibly with mild or no symptoms, York said

Information from those tests will help show how widely COVID-19 has spread and how many people may still be at risk and will give more confidence in deciding when people should go back to work and school, he said.

This story was originally published April 2, 2020 at 12:52 PM with the headline "2 more deaths in Tri-Cities area linked to coronavirus. Known cases jump 18%."