4 more COVID deaths raise Tri-Cities death toll over 150. But new cases drop
Four more residents of the Tri-Cities area have died of complications of COVID-19, bringing the total local deaths in the pandemic to 152.
The deaths come as the number of new cases continues its decline from earlier this summer.
Just 28 cases were reported on Wednesday by the Benton Franklin Health District.
That’s down from an average of 56 cases reported each of the last seven days. It now has been eight days since more than 100 new cases have been reported in a single day for the two counties.
On at least two days in July more than 200 new confirmed cases were reported.
Public health officials say the general downward trend in cases in recent weeks is evidence that more people wearing masks, as shown in weekly surveys of shoppers leaving area grocery stores, is helping to reduce the spread of the illness.
The surveys have found 98% of shoppers had masks.
Fewer patients also are being hospitalized locally this month for treatment of COVID-19. Cases have dropped into the 30s since the Aug. 4 report, with 37 patients reported on Wednesday.
COVID deaths
The deaths reported on Wednesday included three people from Benton County and a Franklin County resident.
The Benton County residents included a man in his 50s and a woman in her 80s, both with underlying health conditions.
And a woman in her 60s with no health problems also died.
The Franklin County victim was a woman in her 70s with underlying health troubles.
Certain health conditions or being 60 or older put people at risk of severe illness if infected with the coronavirus.
Total deaths in the two counties from complications of COVID-19 now number 152, including 110 in Benton County and 42 in Franklin County.
Benton County has double the population of Franklin County and also has a higher percentage of older residents.
Hospital cases
The new cases reported on Wednesday include 12 in Benton County for a total of 3,788 cases there since the start of the pandemic.
Franklin County had 16 new cases for a total of 3,575 cases. The total for both counties is 7,363, all confirmed with positive tests.
The health district does not compile information on how many of the cases are active, and no information on the number of people tested was available on Wednesday because of an ongoing issue with the state data-collection system related to negative test results.
The 37 patients being treated locally for COVID-19 account for just under 11% of all patients being treated at hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.
The Tri-Cities area is not meeting state-set targets of no more than 50 new cases in Benton County and no more than 24 new cases in Franklin County total over two weeks. But local hospitals have adequate capacity should cases increase, based on state-set targets, according to officials.
Masks working
Face coverings are required in Washington state in any indoor place, other than your home and in outdoor places where you cannot maintain six feet of distance from non-household members, the Washington state Department of Health said in a blog post.
“When COVID-19 first started, there was very little information available about cloth face coverings,” it said. “Researchers have been studying them much more recently, and it’s clear now that they definitely reduce the spread of the virus.”
There are only rare cases in which there is a reason a person cannot safely wear a cloth mask, said state health officials.
“Many people — health care workers, painters, skiers, some modestly dressed Muslin women, and others — wear face coverings for long periods of time with no ill effect,” it said.
The masks keep your breath from traveling far, but are not airtight, it said.
Everyone is required to wear masks in situations where they are around others, no matter how healthy they feel, because people infected with the virus may not develop symptoms for a couple days and some people may be infectious without developing symptoms.
This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 1:47 PM.