Tri-Cities coronavirus cases increase 9 percent, with more healthcare workers sick

The number of known COVID-19 cases in the Tri-Cities area increased by close to 9 percent on Friday, but the Benton Franklin Health District reported no new deaths from the disease.

The number of deaths stood at 27, with 19 of those deaths linked to senior living or long-term care homes, said Rick Dawson, a senior manager at the health district, on Friday.

The number of known cases in the two counties jumped from 408 on Thursday to 443 on Friday.

A day earlier cases had increased 19 percent over 24 hours, but Dawson said on Friday that increase was not caused by a sudden spike in cases.

It was the result of auditing files to identify previously suspected cases that were connected with lab-confirmed cases, he said.

The new cases on Friday included four more healthcare workers, bringing the number of those workers who have been infected with the novel coronavirus to 97.

The health district has not released numbers of how many work in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes or other jobs, such as home nursing.

As of Thursday evening, the latest Washington state data available, only two counties in the state had more deaths than Benton County from complications of COVID-19. They were King with 257 deaths and Snohomish with 62.

The total deaths in Benton and Franklin counties now include eight people who were in their 90s, nine in their 80s, five in their 70s and five in their 60s.

All but two deaths have been Benton County residents. Most long-term care facilities and retirement communities in the Tri-Cities are located in Benton County, helping explain the disparity in death totals between the two counties.

Cases by county

The case total for the two local counties on Thursday included 303 in Benton County and 140 in Franklin County.

People ages 31-40 were most likely to test positive, accounting for 79 of the cases in the two counties. People 20 and younger accounted for 37 cases.

Those most at risk of serious complications are people 60 and older.

The Tri-Cities area has had 50 people with COVID-19 who are ages 61-70; 32 people ages 71-80; and 63 people older than 80.

Benton County cases include 233 confirmed by testing for the new coronavirus and 70 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 97 confirmed by testing and 43 additional probable cases.

Benton Franklin Health District has been reporting probable cases because of a shortage of supplies to test patients for COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area, contributing to a potentially inaccurate picture of the number of cases.

Nursing home update

The number of cases reported at retirement homes and nursing and other long-term care facilities increased by only two between Thursday and Friday. Cases may be either staff or residents.

Both new cases were at Life Care Center of Richland, which now has 86 cases. Regency Canyon Lakes in Kennewick held steady at 50 cases.

Both are nursing homes, providing long-term care to some of the area’s must vulnerable residents.

Bonaventure Senior Living of Richland had 13 cases, Solstice Senior Living of Kennewick had eight cases, Affinity at Southridge in Kennewick had three cases and Parkview Estates in Kennewick had one case.

All the homes but Affinity at Southridge and Parkview Estates also have additional suspected cases, according to the Benton Franklin Health District.

The health district is no longer reporting the number of negative test results for COVID-19. The Washington state Department of Health has not provided that information recently to the local health district.

The local district also lacks the staff to track the number of active versus recovered cases since the number of cases is now over 400.

Staff are concentrating on work that includes helping nursing homes prevent the spread of the new coronavirus and tracking down people who have been in close contact with newly diagnosed patients. People may be notified by phone or email, depending on the information available for each person.

Workplace outbreak

Walla Walla County health officials are reporting cases near the Tri-Cities related to a workplace exposure.

There are six cases in the Burbank and Wallula areas south of Pasco linked to a workplace, which health officials have not named.

Another three people in Walla Walla have COVID-19 from the same company location.

Walla Walla health officials are working with the employer and officials in Benton and Franklin counties, they said.

The residents of the Burbank and Wallula area who were infected are in isolation at their homes and close contacts have been notified and are in home quarantine.

This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 1:48 PM.