1 more COVID death in Tri-Cities area. Fewer new confirmed cases than a week ago

Another 226 cases of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area have been confirmed over the past three days.

That is an average of 75 daily cases in Benton and Franklin counties, according to data released by the Benton Franklin Health District on Monday. The data was collected since the last announcement on Friday.

It is down from 102 cases per day for the same three-day period a week ago.

State and local health officials have been cautiously optimistic that the recent flattening and even dropping of daily case counts for Benton and Franklin counties will be sustained.

They say that more people wearing masks in the Tri-Cities area may be helping to reduce new cases, although they continue to be concerned about large gatherings in the area spreading the coronavirus.

One death from complications of COVID-19 was reported on Monday, bringing the total for the two counties to 137.

The latest death reported was a Benton County woman in her 70s. She was at risk for a severe case of COVID-19 both because of her age and also her underlying health conditions.

There have been 99 deaths from complications of COVID-19 in Benton County residents and 38 in Franklin County residents.

The local health district does not add deaths to its total unless the person had a positive test result for the coronavirus and a death certificate that says that complications of COVID-19 were a primary cause of death.

COVID cases

The new cases reported on Monday for Benton County totaled 129 for three days. They include 38 cases reported on Monday, 31 on Sunday and 60 on Saturday, or an average of 43 per day.

For Franklin County the new cases reported on Monday totaled 97. The include 20 cases reported on Monday, 32 on Sunday and 45 on Saturday, for an average of 32 per day.

The percentage of people testing positive in the last three days is 14% in Benton County and 15% in Franklin County.

The count of confirmed daily cases remains significantly above the targets set by the Washington state Department of Health. It wants to see no more than 50 new cases in Benton County total over two weeks and no more than 24 cases total over two weeks in Franklin County.

The number of people being treated in area hospitals for COVID-19 dropped to 61 from the 67 reported on Friday. There were also 61 people hospitalized a week ago for COVID-19.

The number is down from highs in the 80s reported on some days in June and at the start of July. However, on many days in May hospitals were reporting numbers in the 30s.

The 61 patients being treated for COVID-19 as of Monday, including those with positive test results and those awaiting test results, accounted for 19% of patients in hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

Total confirmed COVID-19 cases in Benton and Franklin counties since the start of the pandemic total 6,257, including 3,207 cases in Benton County and 3,050 in Franklin County.

In the state 52,635 cases have been confirmed, with 1,501 residents dying.

This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 2:30 PM.