Tri-Cities area COVID cases average 114 a day over the weekend. Another person dies
Another 341 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the Tri-Cities area since Friday.
In addition, one more person has died from complications of the disease, putting total deaths in Benton and Franklin counties at 115.
The new cases for three days on Monday included 150 cases in Benton County and 191 cases in Franklin County, which is about half the population size as Benton County.
That is an average of 50 cases per day in Benton County and 64 per day in Franklin County.
The Benton Franklin Health District reported 777 more people tested for COVID-19 in Benton County for a total of 14,391. Franklin County and 652 more people tested for a total of 8,729 since the start of the pandemic.
The latest death was a Benton County man in his 70s, who was at risk of a severe illness both because of his age and having underlying health conditions.
The new total includes 86 deaths in Benton County residents and 29 in Franklin County residents.
The newly reported cases do not meet the targets the state considers as it decides whether counties can reopen more businesses.
However, the most recent state data showed that only 14 of the state’s counties were meeting that metric of fewer than 25 cases per 100,000 people for the two weeks ending July 4.
For Benton County the target is no more than 50 total cases over two weeks. For Franklin County it is no more than 24 total cases over two weeks.
Total confirmed cases in Benton County since the start of the pandemic number 2,387. In Franklin County there have been 2,463 confirmed cases.
The number of people hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19 dropped from 68 as reported on Friday to 65 as of Monday, according to the Benton Franklin Health District.
That’s down from a high of 89 in late June, but higher than in May when numbers were mostly in the 30s.
The number of COVID-19 patients, either with cases confirmed by testing or who were being treated as test results were pending, accounted for nearly 21% of patients in hospitals in Richland, Pasco, Kennewick and Prosser.
No new cases were found in patients or staff at long-term care homes in the Tri-Cities area.
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 3:34 PM.