1 in 65 people in this town tested positive for COVID. Here’s how the other cities are doing

A change in how the local health district reports COVID-19 cases has dropped the rate of infection in parts of the Tri-Cities.

But the Pasco rate continues to climb.

It has the most confirmed cases of any of the cities in Benton and Franklin counties and the highest rate of infection among the three Tri-City towns.

The Benton Franklin Health District no longer is considering probable cases in its data, a change made this week in response to the wider availability of testing to confirm cases.

Now most people with symptoms are able to receive a test to confirm if they are ill.

The updated data shows that Pasco has 743 cases, or a rate of 98.5 cases per 10,000 people, based on U.S. Census population estimates for 2019.

Last week, even though both probable and confirmed cases were counted, the rate was lower at 97 per 10,000 people.

That means about 1 of every 100 people in Pasco have had a positive test for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

One reason may be that Pasco has a higher number of agricultural workers living in the city. It also likely has the most food processing workers.

Both industries are considered essential work and employees continue to report to jobs, putting them at higher risk of infection.

Cases by town

Here’s how some of the other cities in the area stand:

▪ Kennewick has had the second highest number of cases — 579 confirmed cases of COVID-19 — or about 67 cases per 10,000 people.

That’s down from 70 cases per 10,000 when the health district reported both confirmed and probable cases on June 2.

Information on just confirmed cases by city before this week has not been compiled by the health district to compare to current data.

▪ Richland, the smallest of the three Tri-Cities, has had 220 confirmed cases for a rate of 38 cases per 10,000.

That is down from a rate of 39 when confirmed and probable cases were reported together last week.

▪ West Richland continues to do better than the other cities.

It has 46 confirmed cases, or a rate of 31 cases per 10,000 people. Its rate of infection is less than a third of Pasco’s rate and less than half of Kennewick’s rate.

▪ Prosser has been hit hard by COVID-19. It has had 101 confirmed cases.

It is a rate of 158 per 10,000, although the town has fewer than 6,500 people, according to the 2019 U.S. Census population estimate.

That means the rate is nearly 1 in 65 people with positive test results.

The town has many residents working in agriculture and related essential food processing jobs.

It also is close to the Yakima County line. Yakima County has among the worst outbreak of COVID-19 among the western states, state officials have said.

▪ Connell, which has had an outbreak at Coyote Ridge, has had 78 inmate and employees test positive. Inmates at the prison are counted in Connell and Franklin County statistics. Employees are counted in the city where they live.

The total does not yet reflect all cases at the prison reported by the state Department of Corrections.

▪ Eltopia has 15 confirmed cases.

▪ Mesa has 13 confirmed cases.

Other small communities in Benton and Franklin counties have fewer than 10 cases, and data by residence has not been made public to protect the privacy of individuals in small towns.

Coronavirus deaths

Although confirmed cases are higher in Pasco than Kennewick or Richland, the opposite appears to be true for deaths from complications of COVID-19.

Franklin County, where Pasco is its largest city, has had 19 deaths linked to COVID-19, according to the Benton Franklin Health District.

Benton County — where Kennewick and Richland are the largest cities — has had 71 deaths.

The local health district has said that part of the difference is linked to Kennewick and Richland having the majority of the retirement communities and long-term care homes.

More than 70 percent of deaths in the Tri-Cities have been linked to facilities for seniors.

This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 11:50 AM.