New COVID cases rebound in Tri-Cities area. Another death reported for 138

The number of new COVID-19 cases in the Tri-Cities area jumped to 172 on Tuesday.

New confirmed cases had averaged 75 per day for the previous three days. Before that, on Friday 108 cases were reported, on Thursday 58 cases and on Wednesday 72 cases, said the Benton Franklin Health District.

State and local health officials had been watching numbers closely as the Tri-Cities hit three weeks on Tuesday after a state mandate took effect requiring businesses to refuse service to people not wearing masks.

Although Tri-Cities area cases spiked on Tuesday, public health officials have cautioned not to put too much weight on a single day’s reported new cases, whether they are higher or lower than other recent numbers.

In general the trend had been new daily case numbers holding steady or even dropping over the last week or so.

The Washington state Department of Health called out Franklin County in a report released Tuesday as one of three counties — along with Spokane and Yakima — where new cases appeared to be decreasing.

It looked at data through July 23 in a report by the Institute of Disease Modeling based in Bellevue.

Dr. Amy Person, the health officer for Benton and Franklin counties, has credited outreach by local public health officials with the Hispanic community to helping to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The number of cases in the Hispanic population in the two counties continues to be disproportionately high, in part because essential workers are put at risk of infection as they report to their jobs.

Statewide COVID concerns

State public health officials remain concerned about the overall trend statewide, with each person with COVID-19 infecting on average more than one other person. New cases decrease when each person infects on average fewer than one other person with the coronavirus.

“We are still at great risk for significant growth as the virus continues to spread in Washington state,” said John Wiesman, the state secretary of health, on Tuesday.

Cases in the state have been increasing in both children and older adults, he said, based on information from the Institute of Disease Modeling.

“As (COVID) moves into more vulnerable age groups, I am very concerned that hospitalizations and deaths will continue to increase,” he said.

The number of COVID deaths in Eastern Washington increased in July, compared to June, according to the Institute of Disease Modeling.

Deaths and hospitalizations

There was one new death from complications of COVID-19 reported on Tuesday in the Tri-Cities area to bring total deaths in Benton and Franklin counties to 138 since the first one in mid-March.

The latest death was a Franklin County man in his 70s with underlying health conditions.

The number of Benton County residents who have died of complications of infections with the coronavirus is 99, and 39 Franklin County residents have died.

The good news in Tuesday’s report by the local health officials was the number of patients hospitalized locally for treatment of COVID-19.

It dropped to 55 from numbers that had been mostly in the 60s after a spike to 82 patients reported on July 16. The patient count was 89 as reported July 1.

The 55 patients on Tuesday accounted for 17% of total patients in hospitals in Richland, Kennewick Pasco and Prosser.

“Our actions matter — stay home, keep distance and wear a face covering,” Wiesman said. “We all need to take this responsibility seriously and limit our activity to protect the health and safety of our communities.”

COVID cases

The cases reported by the Benton Franklin Health District on Tuesday included 100 more cases in Benton County for a total of 3,307 cases confirmed since the start of the pandemic.

In Franklin County 72 more cases were confirmed on Tuesday for a total of 3,122.

The percentage of people testing positive in Tuesday’s report was 26.8% in Benton County and 26% in Franklin County.

That compares to 14% in Benton County and 15% in Franklin County for the previous three days.

Together the counties have had 6,429 residents test positive for COVID-19. Nearly 32,000 people have been tested in the two counties, with only the sickest patients tested during the earlier days of the pandemic.

This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 1:54 PM.