Pasco has the most COVID cases in Tri-Cities area. Here’s the breakdown for 7 towns

The number of known COVID-19 cases in Pasco has topped 500, with Kennewick not far behind, according to the Benton Franklin Health District.

It released a breakdown of known cases by city in Benton and Franklin counties for the first time in a week.

It showed that Pasco also has the most known cases per person of the three Tri-Cities, followed by Kennewick and then Richland, based on U.S. Census population estimates available for 2018.

Prosser also stands out for having a significant number of cases for its size.

Here’s the breakdown by town, with totals for cases since the start of the new coronavirus pandemic:

▪ Pasco, the second largest population of the three Tri-Cities, has had 508 known cases of infection, or a case for every 147 residents, the health district said. Cases there increased by 50 in the past week.

▪ Kennewick, the most populated city, has had 445 known COVID-19 cases, or a case for every 186 residents. Cases increased by 41 over the last week.

▪ Richland, the smallest of the three, has had 159 known cases, or one for every 360 residents. It had 16 new cases reported over the last week.

▪ Prosser now has 48 known cases, or a case for every 131 people. Eight new cases were reported there in a week.

▪ West Richland has 40 known cases, or a case for every 373 residents. Four new cases were reported in the past week.

In addition, 16 cases have been reported in Benton City residents and 11 in Eltopia.

The Benton Franklin Health District lists 11 cases in rural Franklin County, which also includes towns such as Connell with 10 or fewer cases.

Public health officials do not assign cases to towns until there are at least 10 to protect the privacy of people in small communities.

Rural Benton County and 10 positive cases reported. There also were five cases in Benton County without a confirmed address.

Deaths are not reported by city, but there have been 55 deaths from complications of COVID-19 in Benton County and 14 in Franklin County.

The number of cases to date in Benton County total 723 and the number of cases in Franklin County are 530.

This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 3:31 PM.