Franklin County ranked 38th in nation for COVID case rate. Worst in state, says institute

Franklin County now ranks 38th in the nation for the worst rate of coronavirus infections, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute.

It ranks worst among all counties in the states along the West Coast, with nearly 67 confirmed COVID-19 cases per day per 100,000 population, according to the institute.

The data is a rolling average of seven days as determined by the institute on Saturday.

Nationwide Hot Springs County, Ark., ranked the worst with an average of nearly 267 cases per 100,000 per day.

Benton County was listed as having the seventh highest rate in Washington state with 23 confirmed cases per 100,000 population per day on average. It has a little more than twice as many people as Franklin County.

Between Franklin and Benton counties were Adams with a rate of 51 per 100,000, Grant with a rate of 32, Yakima with a rate of 30, Okanogan with a rate of 29 and Douglas with a rate of 25. All are in central or eastern Washington.

Franklin County, like many central Washington counties, has many agriculture workers and ag processing workers who have continued to work through the pandemic, putting them at increased risk of exposure to coronavirus.

Just across the state line in Oregon, Morrow County has a rate of 55 cases her 100,000 and Umatilla County has a rate of about 50 cases per 100,000. They rank 4th and 7th worst among counties along the West Coast.

This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 1:54 PM.