Nearly 300 COVID cases in 3 days in Tri-Cities, far above reopening targets

Another death from complications of COVID-19 and almost 300 new cases were reported by the Benton Franklin Health District on Monday.

The 299 new confirmed cases were recorded in the three days since the health district last gave an update.

They include 113 new cases in Benton County and 186 new cases in Franklin County for a total number of cases since the pandemic began of 2,751 for the two counties together.

The most recent death was a Benton County woman in her 80s with underlying health conditions.

It brings the total deaths from complications of COVID-19 in the two counties to 97, including 74 in Benton County and 23 in Franklin County.

The average of about 100 cases for each of the last three days comes as Benton and Franklin counties have submitted a revised application for Phase 2 of reopening, asking the Washington state Department of Health to allow it to partially reopen some businesses considered nonessential and to allow small gatherings.

Among the reopening targets set by the state for the Tri-Cities area are no more than 50 cases total for Benton County over two weeks and no more than 24 cases total for Franklin County.

Although daily case totals were not immediately available for the weekend on Monday, the cases reported for the last three days average about 38 per day in Benton County and 62 per day in Franklin County.

The totals by county are 1,438 in Benton County and 1,313 in Franklin County.

About 45% of cases for both counties combined are in Hispanic residents, although just 33% of the population is Hispanic.

Statewide, people doing agriculture work have had high rates of coronavirus infections.

Ag, forestry, fishing and hunting jobs account for just 3% of jobs statewide, but 6% of the workers diagnosed with COVID-19, according to information from the Washington state Department of Health last week. Employment data was not available for all cases.

The local health district noted that there have been 70 cases reported to it in inmates of the Coyote Ridge Correctional Facility in Connell, which are included in Franklin County confirmed cases.

The number of residents and staff in long-term care homes in the two counties, including nursing homes and assisted living centers, totals 354. That’s up from 319 two weeks ago.

Cases high in Pasco

Pasco continues to be a hot-spot for cases, with 1,165 cases confirmed there, up from 1,025 reported on Friday.

Kennewick cases increased by 72 to 844 over the past three days. Richland had 16 more cases for a total of 276, West Richland had three more cases for a total of 66 and Prosser cases jumped by 11 to 171.

The Coyote Ridge inmate cases brought the Connell total to 108. Although at least 40 employees at the prison also are infected, they are counted in the town they live.

The number of hospitalized patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 in Benton and Franklin counties dropped from a high of 76 Thursday June 18 to 69 on Monday, as reported by the local health district.

Public health officials reported last week that hospital intensive care unit space was tight in the Tri-Cities.

The patients now being treated for COVID-19 account for 21% of patients at hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

The Washington state Department of Health says 186 Benton County residents with confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 121 Franklin County residents have been hospitalized since the start of the pandemic.

The state Department of Health puts the number of deaths from complications of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area at 105, but eight of those deaths have either not been confirmed by the local health district or have been determined not to be caused by the coronavirus.

The Benton County Health District checks for a positive COVID-19 case and information on the death certificate that indicates COVID-19 was the main cause of death.

Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties remain the only three in the state that have not been approved to move to Phase 1.5, Phase 2 or Phase 3 of reopening.

With the original applications on pause for Benton and Franklin counties, a revised application was submitted to the state late Friday.

This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 2:27 PM.