Health officials beg Tri-Citians to avoid big July 4 gatherings. More COVID deaths

The Fourth of July has Tri-Cities-area public health officials worried.

They’re urging people not to celebrate the holiday at large gatherings, including those publicized in violation of current coronavirus restrictions.

“We cannot sustain continued growth in daily COVID-19 cases, both as a public health system or as a medical system,” said Rick Dawson, a senior manager of the Benton Franklin Health District.

“It will eventually put such a burden on our community that we will not do well and we will have everlasting effects from this,” he said.

There were two more deaths reported on Thursday alone.

One was a Benton County man in his 70s with underlying health conditions that put him at increased risk of severe illness.

The other case was a Franklin County resident, but more information was not immediately available.

The largest number of COVID-19 cases so far for a single day, 215, was reported on Wednesday.

On Thursday, just 45 new cases were reported in Franklin County and the number of new Benton County cases dropped as the local health district said 25 cases were being reassigned from Benton to other counties.

Cases are assigned to the person’s county of residence, rather than the county where they were tested or treated for the illness and the case reported.

But local hospitals continued to treat many patients for COVID-19, with 88 cases reported in hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser on Thursday. That’s just one below the record of 89 patients from late June.

People with COVID-19, or who are being treated for the illness with test results pending, accounted for almost 26% of hospital patients.

Holiday increases

The number of cases in Benton and Franklin counties started to increase after Mother’s Day, Dawson said.

They went up again after Memorial Day and then after Father’s Day, he said.

Public health officials fear there could be another increase within two weeks of July 4 if people ignore pleas to avoid gathering.

A rodeo and parade planned in northern Franklin County “should not happen,” Dawson said. “It is not safe for our citizens. It will and can contribute to the COVID-19 burden in this community which we are so desperately trying to mitigate to allow our communities and our economy to open up.”

Public health officials have discussed the event with the governor’s office and asked organizers to cancel it, without success, he said.

They also are worried about planned gatherings July 5 to protest coronavirus restrictions, but have not been able to locate organizers.

“Hopefully our citizens will be wise and choose not to attend an event that can move us backward in the mitigation of COVID-19,” Dawson said. “We need to do the right things.”

New cases

The number of deaths in the two counties from complications of COVID-19 reached 106 on Thursday, including 78 in Benton County and 28 in Franklin County.

There now are 3,606 confirmed cases in the two counties, with 1,856 in Benton County and 1,750 in Franklin County.

The number of people being tested as reported by the local health district dropped significantly from Wednesday to Thursday.

On Wednesday, it reported 917 more people tested, and on Thursday it reported just 367 more people tested.

Business mask order

The holiday will come before a new order for the two counties takes effect that requires businesses not to serve customers who are not wearing masks. The requirement starts Monday.

The Benton Franklin Health District does not have the authority to force businesses to comply with its orders.

Violating the local order would be a misdemeanor, but law enforcement agencies have said as orders have been issued that they are focusing on education.

The health district suggests businesses use the same tactics they already use successfully to enforce policies such as no smoking and requiring customers to wear shoes and shirts.

A business can call police if someone does not comply with the order to wear a mask and refuses to leave, said Kennewick police Chief Ken Hohenberg.

There are some exemptions to the new order, including those with certain health conditions, people who are eating or drinking, and children younger than 5, although masks are strongly encouraged for children two and older.

This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 1:59 PM.