Youngest coronavirus death yet in Tri-Cities area. Plus 68 new cases reported Friday
Three more deaths from complications of COVID-19 and 68 more confirmed cases were reported Friday by the Benton Franklin Health District.
They bring total deaths in the Tri-Cities area to 93 and total confirmed cases to 1,990.
The latest death included the youngest person yet in the area to die of complications of COVID-19 — a Franklin County man in his 40s.
The health district had no information on whether he had underlying health conditions.
Being 60 or older or having health conditions — such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease or lung diseases, including asthma — put people at increased risk of severe illness if infected with the coronavirus.
However, those most likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area are people in their 20s through 40s.
The other deaths reported Friday were a Franklin County man in is 70s and a Benton County woman in her 90s.
The woman had underlying health conditions and the man’s medical history was not known to public health officials.
Of the total 93 deaths, 72 have been Benton County residents and 21 have been Franklin County residents.
About 70% of those who died were residents of long-term care of senior living homes, with the majority of those facilities in Benton County.
The local health district does not add cases to its tally of deaths from complications of COVID-19 until it verifies the person had a positive test for the coronavirus and that the death certificate reflects complications of COVID-19.
New COVID cases
The new cases reported included 42 more in Benton County for a total of 1,093 cases and 26 more in Franklin County for a total of 897 cases. All cases have been confirmed with testing.
The new cases continue to make the Tri-Cities one of the current hot spots for the coronavirus in the state. On Thursday, the Washington state Department of Health reported statewide there were 137 new cases, lower than in some recent days, and four more deaths.
The Washington state Department of Health has set a population-based target of no more than 50 new cases in Benton County and no more than 24 cases in Franklin County to move from Phase 1 to Phase 2 of business reopening.
Because of the high number of current cases in the two counties, the decision on whether to approve the two counties’ applications to reopen more businesses will be more difficult than for some other counties, John Wiesman, the Washington state secretary of health, said on the Kadlec on Call podcast this week.
Wiesman said his goal is to have a decision early next week. He could approve moving to Phase 2, allow more limited business reopenings under a modified Phase 1 or deny one or both county applications.
He recently agreed to allow Chelan and Douglas counties to move to a modified Phase 1, but said officials there need to work on testing workers at agriculture facilities and improve compliance with wearing masks in the communities.
Benton, Franklin and Yakima remain the only counties in the state that have not moved to at least a modified Phase 1, with some other counties already in Phase 3.
Hospitalized cases
In other COVID-19 case information released by the local health district on Friday, the number of people hospitalized locally for suspected of confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19 dropped from 68 as of Thursday to 65.
That’s up from 35 patients reported less than three weeks ago.
The current patients being treated for COVID-19 account for 24% of patients in hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.
The number of healthcare workers in the Tri-Cities area diagnosed with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic increased by three in Friday’s report to 214.
The number of residents in long-term care and retirement centers increased form 208 to 211 since the start of the pandemic.
This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 2:15 PM.