Another COVID death, even as new cases drop in Tri-Cities area

The Tri-Cities area had another day of lower COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, continuing the decline in cases since earlier this summer.

Benton County had 30 new cases and Franklin County and 17 new cases confirmed on Tuesday by the Benton Franklin Health District, for a total of 47.

That compares to an average of about 50 cases per day for the previous three days, after an uptick to 93 cases on Friday.

There was one new death from complications of COVID-19 reported — a Franklin County man in his 70s.

He was at risk of a severe case of the disease because of his age, but had no known underlying health conditions.

His death brought total local deaths from the coronavirus to 148, including 107 in Benton County residents and 41 in Franklin County residents.

The local health district only attributes a death to the coronavirus if a person had a positive test result and a death certificate showed a complication of COVID-19, such as certain lung or other organ issues, as the cause of death.

The number of local hospital patients being treated for COVID-19 remained in the 30s for the seventh day in a row. It’s comparable to the number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in May.

August started with a report of 45 hospitalized COVID patients, and the number had been as high as 89 as reported at the start of July.

The 35 patients being treated for COVID-19 reported on Tuesday accounted for 12% of patients hospitalized in Richland, Pasco, Kennewick and Prosser.

Data on the number of tests for COVID-19 in the bicounty area is not available because of issues with Washington state Department of Health data collection.

Targets for cases, hospitals

Although Tri-Cities area cases are dropping, they still remain far above targets set by the state, including for offering all K-12 classes in person.

Targets also will be considered as the state considers easing restrictions for businesses and gatherings in the Tri-Cities.

Just five of 39 counties in the state are meeting targets for low numbers of new cases now and applications for moving to new phases of the Safe Start reopening are on hold.

The state wants to see fewer than 25 new cases total in two weeks per 100,000 population.

The latest state assessment shows 457 new cases in Franklin County per 100,000 population over two weeks and 263 in Benton County per 100,000 people over two weeks.

Statewide there are 128 cases per 100,000 population over two weeks.

However, local hospitals are meeting state standards for having enough licensed beds available should COVID rebound.

Cases, deaths by age

The 47 cases reported on Tuesday brought total confirmed cases in Benton and Franklin counties since the start of the pandemic to 7,335.

They include 3,776 in Benton County and 3,559 in Franklin County.

Those most likely to have had confirmed cases in the two counties are ages 20-39. The age group accounts for 42% of confirmed cases in Benton County and 40% of confirmed cases in Franklin County since the start of the pandemic.

In Franklin County, 14% of cases have been in teens and younger children or babies; 34% have been in people ages 40-59; 10% in ages 60-79 and 2% are in people 80 and older.

In contrast, 29% of deaths have been in people 80 and older; 57% in people ages 60-79 and 14% in ages 40-59, according to Washington state data, which counts more deaths attributed to COVID than does the local health district with its strict criteria for death certificate information.

In Benton County, 13% of cases have been in teens, younger children and babies; 28% have been in ages 40-59; 12% in ages 60-79 and 5% in ages 80 and older.

Those 80 and older have accounted for 51% of deaths, 41% of deaths were in ages 60-79 and 8% were in ages 40-59, according to Washington state data.

Benton County’s population is older on average than Franklin County’s population.

This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 2:14 PM.