7 people dead from coronavirus in Tri-Cities area, setting a record for a single day

Seven more people have died from complications of COVID-19, the Benton Franklin Health District announced on Thursday.

The Tri-Cities area has had 15 deaths this week alone, and has had 27 since the first of the month.

It is not just the number of deaths that is concerning, said Rick Dawson, a senior manager at the Benton Franklin Health District.

Public health officials have seen more people dying who have no underlying health conditions, he said.

And more younger people are dying, with the deaths of four people in their 50s or 60s announced this week. However, no one under 50 has died so far in the Tri-Cities.

The seven COVID-19 deaths announced on Thursday were the most for Benton and Franklin counties so far — worse than the previous record of six deaths earlier this week.

The deaths announced Thursday included six Benton County residents and one person from Franklin County.

Two of the people had no underlying health conditions — such as diabetes, obesity or heart or lung disease — that put them at increased risk. However, all were age 60 or older, which also is a risk factor for serious illness.

Deaths announced

They included:

▪ A Franklin County woman in her 60s with underlying health conditions.

▪ A Benton County man in his 60s with underlying health issues.

▪ A Benton County man in his 60s without health problems.

▪ A Benton County woman in her 70s without underlying health issues.

▪ A Benton County man in his 80s with underlying health conditions.

▪ A Benton County man in his 90s with underlying conditions.

▪ A Benton County woman in her 90s with health issues.

Other deaths this week have included five in people without underlying health conditions, including a woman in her 50s.

The Benton Franklin Health District does not add deaths to its COVID-19 tally unless the person had a positive test for the coronavirus and a death certificate shows complications of COVID-19 was the cause of death.

Benton County has had 96 deaths and Franklin County, which has about half the population, has had 33 deaths.

Outbreaks of COVID-19 this spring in long-term care and retirement homes, which are mostly located in Benton County, have added to the higher number of deaths there.

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.

Confirmed cases

The number of confirmed cases reported on Thursday dropped to 75, down from 184 announced on Wednesday, 142 announced on Tuesday and an average of 114 for each of the three days before that.

However, the health district has warned that one day of either low or high numbers of cases does not make a trend.

Benton County had 55 confirmed cases reported on Thursday for a total of 2,678 since the start of the pandemic. Franklin County had 20 confirmed cases for a total of 2,573.

Total cases for the counties reached 5,251.

The Benton Franklin Health District reported a surge of new cases tied to nursing and other long-term care homes on Thursday.

On Wednesday, there were 387 cases reported in residents and staff of the facilities since the start of the pandemic. That increased by 23 to 410 on Thursday.

Hospital cases

The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in area hospitals also jumped on Thursday.

On Tuesday and Wednesday 68 patients were hospitalized for COVID treatment and that increased to 82 on Thursday. It is still below the 89 patients being treated for COVID on a single day in June.

Public health officials have been concerned that they would see more COVID-19 cases this week linked to large gatherings to celebrate July 4 and other gatherings around that time.

The 82 patients being treated for COVID-19, which includes those with positive test results and those waiting for results, accounted for 24% of all patients hospitalized in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

The Washington state Department of Health looks at number of licensed hospital beds rather than total number of patients and reported that as of Wednesday about 15% of licensed beds were being used for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.

It wants to see 10% or less of licensed beds used by COVID patients.