Tri-Cities area COVID deaths top 100. New cases still far above reopening target

The death count from complications of COVID-19 topped 100 in the Tri-Cities on Monday.

Two deaths were announced by the Benton Franklin Health District, bringing the total to 101 deaths from the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

New confirmed cases since Friday totaled 256 for the two counties for a total of 3,332.

The three-day total exceeds the target of 74 new cases over two weeks that the state has set as a target as it considers allowing more businesses to reopen and small gatherings.

The new numbers were released as Gov. Jay Inslee announced a visit to the Tri-Cities on Tuesday June 30 to discuss the local response to the coronavirus.

Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties are the only ones in the state still in Phase 1 of reopening.

“What we are finding is not just in Benton and Franklin counties, which are still in Phase 1, but the other counties that have moved ahead is that as more people are spending time around one and other, if they are not wearing face coverings we are seeing increases in disease transmission rates,” said Dr. Amy Person, the Tri-Cities area health officer.

She spoke in an interview Thursday for the Columbia Basin Badger Club.

The new cases announced Monday average 85 a day, while on some previous days more than 100 cases a day have been reported.

The latest case count was lower than the 299 cases announced last Monday for June 20-22.

The two new deaths were a Benton County man and woman, both in their 80s with underlying health conditions that put them at risk of severe illness if exposed to the coronavirus.

They bring the total deaths in Benton County to 76, with 25 deaths in Franklin County. Nineteen of the deaths were announced in June.

The local health district confirms deaths by making sure the person tested positive for COVID-19 and that the death certificate shows that complications of COVID-19 were the primary cause of death.

Hospital cases

The number of hospitalized patients being treated for COVID-19 was 69. That’s one more than on Friday but down from a high of 89 patients earlier last week.

The patients being treated for COVID-19, either with positive test results or awaiting test results, as of Monday account for 22% of hospitalized patients in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

The state has set reopening targets for licensed hospital beds — rather than the percentage of patients as reported by the local health district — and the Tri-Cities area was partially meeting those Tuesday.

It had fewer than 80% of licensed hospital beds —69% — occupied by patients of all types but did not have 10% or fewer of all licensed beds being used to treat suspected and confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Local hospitals were using 15% of licensed beds for patients being treated for COVID-19.

Suspected cases are those for which test results have not been completed, but require the same precautions and equipment as confirmed cases.

Testing increase

Testing has increased with drive-thru testing done by the Washington National Guard at the Toyota Center in Kennewick and HAPO Center in Pasco.

About 12% of those tested in the first three days were positive for COVID-19.

It shows there is a lot of undetected infection in the Tri-Cities area, which means transmission of the coronavirus, she said.

The Benton Franklin Health District reported 728 more people tested in Benton County since its Friday report for a total of 9,968 people tested.

In Franklin County, 423 more people were tested for a total of 4,648 people tested.

Large-scale testing is one of the targets set by the state for reopening, so more people with the coronavirus can be identified and asked to isolate or quarantine to reduce the spread.

Public health officials remain concerned about the high number of cases because the number of hospitalized cases has increased from numbers in the mid 30s in mid May.

Cases trend younger

Hospital officials also have said they are seeing more younger patients who are seriously ill enough to require hospitalization than when they first began treating COVID-19 cases in the Tri-Cities area.

In Benton County, 38% of confirmed cases have been in people ages 20-39 and 29% in people ages 40-59, with smaller percentages in people older and younger than ages 20-59.

In Franklin County, 38% of cases have been in people ages 20-39 and 37% in ages 40-59.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Benton County is 1,719, with Franklin County, which has about half as many people, not far behind at 1,613.

The majority of the new cases reported by the local health district on Monday, 81%, were in the area’s two largest towns.

Pasco had 113 more cases for a total of 1,443 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic. Kennewick, the largest of the Tri-Cities, had 94 more cases for a total of 1,037 confirmed cases.

Richland, which is smaller than Pasco, had 29 new cases, for a total of 320 confirmed cases. West Richland had four more cases for a total of 78 and Prosser had three more cases for a total of 192.

Just over have the cases with ethnicity known in Benton and Franklin counties have been reported in Hispanic people, although they account for just 33% of the population.

This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 2:52 PM.