Franklin County infection rate one of worst on West Coast. 2 more Tri-Cities deaths

Franklin County’s COVID infection rate was the second worst on the West Coast late last week, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute.

And Yakima County was third, with the only worse spot in California.

Franklin County’s infection rate actually worsened since then, but Franklin County dropped to sixth place in the listing on Monday as other counties did even worse. Benton County was 18th on Monday.

Both Benton and Franklin counties now have more than 2,000 confirmed cases each since the start of the pandemic, with Franklin County having more cases by one.

Two more deaths were reported Monday in the Tri-Cities area by the Benton Franklin Health District.

They bring the total to 108, with 80 deaths in Benton County and 28 in Franklin County.

The latest deaths were both Benton County men in their 80s. No underlying health conditions were known for one of the men, which increased the chances of a severe case of COVID-19 for the other Benton County man.

The total number of new cases reported July 3-6 were 181 in Benton County and 288 cases in Franklin County for a total of 469. The health district did not update its daily case report over the holiday weekend, waiting until Monday to release information.

The breakdown by day reported includes:

▪ Friday, July 3 — 36 cases in Benton County and 45 in Franklin County for a total of 81.

▪ Saturday, July 4 — 21 cases in Benton County and 44 in Franklin County for a total of 65.

▪ Sunday, July 5 — 48 cases in Benton County and 82 in Franklin County for a total of 130.

▪ Monday, July 6 — 76 in Benton County and 117 in Franklin County for a total of 193.

The total for the four days was 181 new confirmed cases in Benton County, putting its total at 2,037.

For Franklin County the 288 new cases reported over the four days put its total at 2,038.

Infection rankings

Late last week, Franklin and Yakima counties were ranked second and third on the West Coast for highest rate of new confirmed daily cases of COVID-19 by the Harvard Global Health Institute. Imperial County in California had the highest rate.

By Monday some other counties were doing worse, but Franklin and Yakima remained in the top 10 among counties in the states along the coast.

As of Monday, Franklin dropped to sixth highest along the West Coast, followed by Yakima County in 8th position. The institute reported Franklin County had an average of 48 new daily cases per 100,000 people over the past week and Yakima County had 32.

Benton County had an average of 19 new cases per day, it said.

Two counties near the Tri-Cities had higher average daily cases. Umatilla County, Ore., ranked third with an average of 53 new daily cases and Morrow County ranked fifth with an average of 51 new daily cases.

Marin and Imperial counties in California and Malheur County in southeast Oregon also had higher rates than Franklin and Yakima counties.

With Utah, Arizona, Idaho and Nevada included with the states on the West Coast, Franklin County still ranked in the top 10 at No. 9 and Yakima County dropped to No. 19.

Benton and Franklin counties moved to Phase 1.5 of reopening on Friday, even though they had not met targets set by the state for lowering their new cases.

The targets call for no more than 25 cases total over two weeks per 100,000 people. That comes out to no more than 50 new cases in two weeks in Benton County and no more than 24 new cases over two weeks in Franklin County.

Hospitalizations

The two counties were doing somewhat better on number of COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization as of Monday.

The local health district reported 65 people being treated for COVID-19 in Benton and Franklin county hospitals. That included both those with positive test results and those awaiting test results.

That’s down from a high of 89 patients being treated for COVID-19 in late June, but still higher than most days in May.

The COVID-19 patients reported on Monday accounted for nearly 23% of patients in the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

Statewide 1,359 deaths have been reported and 35,898 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Washington state Department of Health.

This story was originally published July 6, 2020 at 1:59 PM.