Tri-Cities deaths reach 50. Man with no health issues latest coronavirus victim

Three more deaths in the Tri-Cities area due to complications of COVID-19 were reported Friday by the Benton Franklin Health District.

They bring the total deaths to 50, as reported by the local health district.

However, the Washington state Department of Health is reporting three additional deaths for a total of nine in Franklin County that have not been verified. Local health district officials check death certificates for the cause of death or causes that contributed to the death.

Tri-Cities officials have verified 44 deaths in Benton County and six in Franklin County.

There also was a significant increase in known cases, either confirmed or probable, reported Friday.

The number of known cases increased by 50 to 964, an increase of 5.5 percent. They include 564 cases in Benton County and 400 cases in Franklin County.

The increase had been expected due to a delay in testing results because of issues over several days at a laboratory doing a significant amount of COVID-19 testing in the Tri-Cities area.

Testing issues had dropped the rate of increase in cases to 1 to 3 percent in recent days.

Results of testing that began Friday of about 1,400 workers at Tyson Fresh Meats south of Pasco at Wallula began being released Thursday afternoon, but are being verified by Benton Franklin Health District officials before added to case totals.

Although Walla Walla County officials reported 56 positive cases in the first 400 tests completed at the beef processing plant — including 31 in Benton County — Benton Franklin Health District officials added just six to its tally of Tyson workers Friday, for a total of 130.

Eleven of the new cases reported Friday were in long term care and retirement homes in the Tri-Cities area. The number of cases in staff and residents increased to 250 since the start of the pandemic, with nine of the new cases in residents.

Coronavirus deaths

One of the latest deaths was a Franklin County man in his 50s with no underlying health conditions reported.

It is the first death in the Tri-Cities area of a person without underlying health conditions, such as heart or lung disease or diabetes, that pose a risk for more severe cases of COVID-19.

It is also one of just three deaths in the two-county area of people in their 50s.

All other deaths confirmed by the local health district have been people 60 or older, which also is a risk factor for more severe disease from infection with the new coronavirus.

The other two deaths reported Friday were a Franklin County woman in her 80s and a Benton County man in his 70s.

On Thursday two Benton county men, one in their 60s and one in their 80s, were reported to have died. The Herald initially reported the wrong ages for those two men.

Of the 50 deaths, 37 were associated with long term care or retirement centers, according to the Benton Franklin Health District. That is 74 percent of the deaths in the Tri-Cities area.

Coronavirus cases

The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in Benton and Franklin hospitals dropped to 32 on Friday, down from 40 the day before. They account for 10 percent of patients at the four hospitals in the two counties.

Four more healthcare workers have been diagnosed with COVID-19, bringing the total in the Tri-Cities area since the start of the pandemic to 149.

With cases topping 900 in the two counties, Benton and Franklin health officials say they do not have the staff to determine how many cases are active and how many people have recovered.

Much of the local health district’s staff time is used to identify and notify close contacts of COVID-19 patients to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, with staff assigned to work seven days a week.

They also do not have data district officials believe is reliable for the number of negative test results.

Of the total positive cases reported by the Benton Franklin Health District, about 79 percent have been confirmed by testing. The rest are considered probable with no test results available, but symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and close contact with a confirmed case.