6 more COVID deaths reported in Tri-Cities area — the most on a single day

Six more Tri-Citians have died from complications of COVID-19, the Benton Franklin Health District announced Tuesday.

It is the most deaths resulting from infection of the coronavirus in the two counties reported in one day.

They include four people in Benton County and two in Franklin County, for a total of 121 deaths to date. The youngest two of the latest deaths were in their 50s.

Five of the people who died had no underlying health conditions.

Conditions such as diabetes or heart or lung disease can put people at higher risk of serious illness from exposure to the coronavirus. Being older than 60 also increases the risk of a severe illness.

One of the people who died was a Benton County woman in her 50s with no underlying health conditions.

The three other Benton County cases were men in their 60s, 80s and 90s, also with no underlying health conditions.

The Franklin County cases included a man in his 70s without underlying health conditions and a man in his 50s with underlying health conditions.

All deaths reported on Tuesday occurred in July, except one, according to the Benton Franklin Health District. It only recently received the death certificate of an inmate at the Coyote Ridge Correctional Center in Connell who died in June.

Just one of the six deaths was a person who had been living in a long-term care home, according to the health district.

Deaths by county

The local health district does not add a death to its COVID-19 mortality tally until it verifies the person had a positive COVID-19 test result and checks a death certificate to confirm that a complication of COVID-19 was a primary cause of death.

Benton County now has had 90 deaths attributed to complications of COVID-19 and Franklin County has had 31.

Benton County’s deaths have accounted for about 74% of total deaths. It has just over twice as many people as Franklin County

The higher percentage of deaths in Benton County may be, in part, because of outbreaks of COVID-19 this spring in long-term care and retirement homes, which are mostly located in Benton County.

In addition, Franklin County’s population tends to be younger than Benton County’s and it has a lower percentage of cases in older residents.

In Franklin County, just under 10% of people are 65 or older and in Benton County 15% of people are 65 or older.

In Franklin County, 13% of cases to date have been in people ages 60 or older, and in Benton County 20% of cases are in people 60 or older.

COVID cases

The health district also announced 142 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, up from an average of 114 reported for the previous three days.

The health district has reported more than 200 cases on at least two days in recent weeks.

Sometimes the number of reported cases in the bicounty area drops on Tuesday because of fewer tests given over the weekend, with some clinics closed and no drive-thru testing done in Kennewick or Pasco by the Washington National Guard on Sundays

Tuesday case reports reflect positive test results reported to the health district on Tuesday.

The cases reported on Tuesday July 14 included 100 cases in Benton County and 42 in Franklin County.

The Washington state Department of Health has set targets it considers for allowing counties to reopen more businesses, including fewer than 25 new cases per 100,000 people reported over a two week period.

For Benton County the target is no more than 50 cases total over two weeks and for Franklin County it is no more than 24 cases total over two weeks.

The new cases put the confirmed cases for the two counties since the start of the pandemic just short of 5,000, at 4,992.

There have been 2,487 confirmed cases in Benton County and 2,505 cases in Franklin County.

Test totals reported on Tuesday included 382 more people in Benton County for a total of 14,773. In Franklin County 223 people were tested from a total of 8,952.

Local officials are watching case counts closely.

They are concerned that large gatherings on the July 4 weekend could lead to more infections, possibly showing up on COVID-19 case counts as soon as this week.

But a new state order that requires businesses to refuse service to customers not wearing face coverings could help control the spread of the coronavirus. The state order took effect July 7 and increased compliance with orders to wear masks could be reflected in better case counts in the next week or so.

Previous 3 days

The release of information on cases and deaths from Saturday through Monday was delayed on Monday because of technical difficulties with the Washington Disease Reporting System.

The Benton Franklin Health District said 341 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed over those three days.

The new cases for 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.

In addition, the local health district reported one death on Monday..

It 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.

Hospital cases

The number of people hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19 in Benton and Franklin counties was 68, as reported on Tuesday. That’s the same number as reported four days ago.

It is down from a high of 89 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the two counties in late June, but in May the number of patients was usually in the 30s.

The 68 people being treated for COVID-19 as of Tuesday — either with positive test results or awaiting test results — accounted for nearly 22% of patients hospitalized in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.