121 COVID cases Friday in Tri-Cities. 15 deaths in a week

The local health district reported 121 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Benton and Franklin counties on Friday.

The majority were in Franklin County, which had 74 new confirmed cases. The remaining 47 were in Benton County.

There were no new deaths due to complications of COVID-19 reported on Friday.

In all, 15 people in the two counties were reported to have died since last Friday.

Benton County has had 96 residents die of complications of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and Franklin County has had 33 deaths.

The Benton Franklin Health District requires a positive COVID-19 test and also a death certificate that shows a complication of the disease was a primary cause of death before adding a death to its count for the coronavirus pandemic.

Since last Friday, the health district has reported an average of 123 cases per day.

There have been a couple days in other recent weeks when new cases topped 200, but local public health officials have cautioned residents to watch trends and not to put too much stock in the high and low daily peaks.

The Washington state Department of Health has set a target for Benton and Franklin counties of no more than 74 cases total over two weeks as the counties work to show they can safely reopen more businesses and allow small gatherings.

Hospital cases

As more businesses were allowed limited reopening earlier this month, “we are seeing increases in numbers, although our hospital capacity still remains able to manage those, which is a good thing,” Dr. Amy Person, the health officer for the two counties, told the Columbia Basin Badger Club late in the week.

The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in the two counties remained at 82 on Friday for the second day in a row, according to the local health district.

That’s below the record of 89 patients a little over a month ago, but more than double the typical number of cases two months ago.

The patients being treated for COVID-19, either with positive tests or awaiting test results, account for 24% of patients in hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

The new cases announced Friday bring total confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic in Benton County to 2,725 and in Franklin County to 2,647. The total for both is 5,372.

The health district said that 440 more people had been tested for the coronavirus as of Friday, for a total of 15,721 people in Benton County and 9,542 people in Franklin County.

COVID orders

Local public health officials have been encouraged that more people are wearing face coverings, with the latest survey released Friday finding 98% of people leaving eight grocery stores in the two-county area had masks.

But it remains too soon to determine the effects of increased compliance with orders to wear masks in public and for businesses to refuse service to customers not wearing masks, Dr. Amy Person said.

There are exceptions to the orders, including for young children and people with medical conditions that make wearing face coverings unsafe.

Health officials continue to receive reports of people ignoring orders that prohibit gatherings with nonhousehold members. The exception to the order are small behavioral health meetings, such as Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

“We are continuing to see lots of sporting events and sports activities” plus large gatherings over the July 4 holiday weekend, Dr. Person said. “Those really are a danger to the participants and going to be a danger to people who come in contact with persons who have been there.”

This story was originally published July 17, 2020 at 2:32 PM.