Free drive-thru COVID tests in high demand. Commissioners say masks ‘not political’

Demand is high for the free drive-thru testing for COVID-19 that opened Wednesday morning in the Tri-Cities.

All appointments for the first two days were snapped up before testing began.

The new service started as the Benton Franklin Health District reported 54 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and the Benton County Commission issued a plea to the community to wear masks so businesses can reopen sooner.

“Research has shown that wearing masks, social distancing, staying home when you can and maintaining good hygiene means the rate of infection goes down,” the commissioners said in a statement.

Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties are of most concern in the state for COVID-19, according to state Department of Health officials.

They are the only three counties in the state still in Phase 1 of reopening, with all other counties at Phase 1.5, Phase 2 or Phase 3.

Benton and Franklin counties have submitted applications to move to Phase 2, but the state put its consideration on pause Monday, saying the counties were far from meeting multiple targets it set for review as to determine if counties may safely reopen.

Benton County commissioners said Wednesday that they are not sure yet what being “on pause” means for the community.

Drive-thru testing

To help Benton and Franklin counties move closer to meeting targets, the state Department of Health worked with Tri-Cities area agencies to increase testing with the help of the Washington National Guard.

Two Washington Army and Air National Guard teams, with about 20 members each, have set up shop temporarily in the parking lots at the HAPO Center, formerly TRAC, in Pasco and the Toyota Center in Kennewick at the Grandridge Boulevard entrance.

Free testing is available from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The process takes five to 15 minutes, depending on how busy testing teams are.

No doctor’s order is required, but appointments are required by calling 211 or 877-211-5445 during business hours weekdays.

Appointments can be made for up to two people in a car.

The Benton Franklin Health District is encouraging people who have symptoms or may have had contact with someone with COVID-19 to be tested, particularly if they have been unable to afford a test or could not obtain a test through their regular provider.

There are no restrictions on who can sign up for a free test.

Benefits of more testing

“We know there’s a huge percentage of the population that is struggling to get tested out of the clinical facilities,” Prock said.

More testing will increase the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Tri-Cities area, which the state already considers far too high to allow Phase 2 reopening of more businesses and small gatherings.

“It is very important to know that case count is not the only metric being considered as we transition phases,” said Carla Prock, a senior manager at the local health district, on Wednesday. “We must increase community testing.”

The amount of testing being done is one target the Washington state Department of Health considers as it allows counties to reopen more businesses and more people to gather.

Now only a tenth of the testing is being done in the two counties that the state wants to see.

More testing also will improve the number of negative test results, which the state also looks at as it considers allowing reopening.

The state wants to see less than 5% positive results, but now Benton County has a 16% positive rate and Franklin County has a 26% positive rate as of Wednesday.

The Benton Franklin Health District is hoping that the National Guard teams will remain in the Tri-Cities for at least several weeks, but they could be reassigned if there is an area of greater need in the state.

They have been running test sites around they state since April, said 2nd Lt. Megan Zurlience. They are equipped with Tyvek protective suits, N95 masks and air-purifying respirators.

State’s COVID concerns

Computer modeling done by the Institute for Disease Modeling shows that “the cases and deaths in these two counties will soon increase substantially if COVID-19 continues to spread at the current level,” said Lacy Fehrenbach, state deputy secretary of health for COVID-19 response, at a statewide briefing on Tuesday.

Taking into account population size, Benton and Franklin are currently at a comparable level to King County during its peak of cases in March, she said.

Similar efforts may need to be made in the Tri-Cities area not only to increase testing, but hospital capacity, and to increase the wearing of face masks and social distancing, she said.

The Washington state Department of Health is committed to working with the leadership of the two counties to find a safe path to reopen, she said.

But the state is also taking a cautious approach to balance the economic benefits of reopening more businesses and control the spread of the coronavirus, she said.

The state Department of Health is not seeing as much adherence to orders to wear masks as it would like in Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties, she said. She cited a May survey that found only about 35% of people in Yakima were wearing masks in stores.

The statement from Benton County commissioners on Wednesday said that they know that people don’t like wearing masks.

“But making that sacrifice is going to help our community move forward to Phase 2 and beyond,” they said.

Reopening is not a Republican or Democrat issue, but a matter of keeping the community safe and healthy and reopening businesses, they said.

“We all know someone who has been financially impacted by this crisis,” they said. “It’s up to us as a community to do our part to move this process along as quickly as possible so that more local businesses don’t have to shut our doors.”

Benton County Commissioner Shon Small says he’s concerned about the safety of his 16-year-old niece who has stage 4 cancer.

He wears masks for her safety and for the people he knows with similar stories, he said.

Tri-Cities cases

On Wednesday the number of cases of COVID-19 confirmed by testing reached 2,280 in Benton and Franklin counties since the start of the pandemic, according to the local health district.

Benton County cases increased by 18 to 1,237 and Franklin County cases increased by 36 to 1,043.

Benton County has a target for reopening of not more than 50 cases total over two weeks and Franklin County has a target of not more than 24 cases over two weeks.

The cases Wednesday were down from a high of 51 new cases reported Tuesday in Benton County and 63 in Franklin County for a total of 114.

The state Department of Health has said that high case counts in multiple counties in recent days may be the result of Memorial Day weekend gatherings. It will be watching to see if recent Black Lives Matter protests across the state also impact case counts.

There were no new deaths reported in Benton and Franklin counties due to complications of COVID-19 for the second day in a row Wednesday. The total stands at 73 deaths of Benton County residents and 21 deaths of Franklin County residents.

Hospitalizations for treatment of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases in the two counties dropped from a high of 70 to 68, as reported Wednesday.

The cases account for 19% of patients in hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

Since the start of the pandemic, 176 Benton County residents and 107 Franklin County residents have been hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the Washington state Department of Health.

The Hispanic population has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus.

The local health department said that based on available data, 49% of cases are in Hispanic people, although they make up only 33% of the population of the two counties.

Ethnicity is not available for about 15% of the Tri-Cities area cases.

This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 2:14 PM.