Another COVID-19 death in Tri-Cities area. Known cases top 1,300

Another death from complications of COVID-19 was reported in the Tri-Cities area on Friday, bringing the total to 72 in two months.

Known coronavirus cases increased by 25 to 1,337 on Saturday, a 2% increase from Saturday.

On Friday cases increased by 16 to 1,312, a 1% increase. The daily increases since Monday have ranged from 1% to about 3%.

The most recent death was a Benton County woman in her 70s, who was at risk of severe disease from infection with the new coronavirus both because of her age and underlying health conditions.

The number of people hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 remained at 36 for the second day in a row.

They account for 14% of the people hospitalized in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

One more healthcare worker tested positive, bringing the total to 180 since the start of the outbreak.

Five more residents of retirement communities or long-term care homes were reported to have COVID-19 on Friday.

Nursing home cases

Nearly a quarter of COVID-19 cases in Benton and Franklin counties and almost 70% of deaths caused by complications of COVID-19 have been linked to residents and staff of long-term care and retirement living centers. Fifty residents have died.

The outbreaks in such facilities have decreased some, but continued testing of residents and staff is needed, said Rick Dawson, a senior manager of the Benton Franklin Health District.

At least 11 Tri-Cities area long-term care or retirement homes that had one or more case of COVID-19 have not had a positive case reported in May.

Of the 301 cases reported in the homes — 183 residents and 118 staff — just over 50 of them have been reported in the first half of May.

The district has been working closely with the facilities for two months, as some of the earliest known cases in the Tri-Cities area were at retirement and long-term care homes.

They include nursing homes, assisted living, independent living, memory care, adult family homes, home health agencies and hospice.

Several Tri-Cities area facilities voluntarily tested all residents and staff with testing supplies obtained by the Benton Franklin Health District.

Now the federal government and Gov. Jay Inslee are directing nursing homes to test all residents and staff in the next two weeks.

With a substantial amount of testing already done, the district is about halfway to meeting that directive, and the additional testing will be done quickly, Dawson said.

Continued testing is needed because a resident or staff member who does not have COVID-19 one week, could have it the next, he said.

High COVID-19 risk

Residents of the facilities are at high risk because of their advanced age, underlying health conditions and close contact between residents and staff, the health district said.

People with COVID-19 may be contagious for 48 hours before symptoms appear or some may have no symptoms. That adds to the “perfect storm” for high infection rates and many deaths in long-term care homes, the health district said.

The downward trend in cases this month indicates the steps the homes are taking with guidance from the Benton Franklin Health District are working, the health district said.

District staff have visited homes, held weekly conference calls, answered hundreds of questions and provided information on best practices for infection control measures, from personal protective equipment to screening workers. They helped obtain masks and other supplies for some homes.

District staff also coached facilities on grouping patients with COVID-19 together with dedicated staff caring for them to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus within the home.

As business and other activities are allowed to resume in Benton and Franklin counties, there is a risk of a second, and possibly more deadly, wave of COVID-19 in the facilities, the health district said.

Families will need to continue to support their loved ones in long-term care without in-person visits, the district said.

Everyone can help protect those residents by staying home as much as possible to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus in the community, including to people who work at the facilities and other healthcare workers, the district said.

Tri-Cities cases

Deaths to date in Benton and Franklin counties stand at 57 for Benton County and 15 for Franklin County.

However, the Washington state Department of Health is listing two additional deaths for Franklin County that have not been confirmed locally with information from death certificates.

The total number of COVID-19 cases include 773 in Benton County and 564 in Franklin County.

About 80% of the cases have been confirmed through testing, but no test results are available for the remainder. They are considered probable because patients had symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and close contact with a confirmed case.

The local health district does not track and make public the number of recovered cases, the severity of illnesses or how many hospitalized patients are treated in the intensive care unit.

This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 2:45 PM.