New Tri-Cities COVID cases bump back up. 1 new death reported

Another death from COVID-19 was reported in the Tri-Cities area Wednesday, bringing total lives lost to the disease locally to 160.

There were 46 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported by the Benton Franklin Health District, after low numbers of positive test results were reported through the Labor Day holiday weekend.

The health district reported a daily average of just 17 cases for both counties combined from Saturday through Tuesday.

The new cases reported Wednesday included 28 in Benton County and 18 in Franklin County.

They bring the total new cases for the past two-week period in Benton County to 227 and to 193 in Franklin County, with numbers not yet final.

Benton County needs to get down to 150 new cases in two weeks and Franklin County needs to get down to about 72 new cases in two weeks to meet state recommendations for allowing some in-person learning to resume in public schools.

Benton County is allowed more cases because it has slightly more than twice as many people as Franklin County.

Benton County now has had a total of 4,261 cases of coronavirus infection confirmed with positive tests since the start of the pandemic. Franklin County has had 4,059.

The number of new cases remains down more than 50 percent since the start of July in both counties.

Death, hospitalizations

The death reported on Wednesday was a man in his 60s who was at risk of serious illness from infection both because of his age and his underlying health conditions, according to the local health district.

There have been 113 deaths from COVID-19 in Benton County and 47 in Franklin County. The local health district adds a death to its COVID tally only if there is a positive test result and the death certificate shows a complication of COVID-19 as the cause of death.

The number of patients hospitalized in the two counties dropped significantly since the last number reported.

Before the holiday weekend started, the number of patients had spiked to 42. On Wednesday just 32 patients were being treated for COVID-19 in local hospitals.

Numbers had been in the 30s from early August to the first days of September before spiking late last week.

The 32 patients accounted for just 10 percent of patients in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

The Washington state Department of Health has not released updated information about cases and deaths statewide since Monday.

Labor Day wind storms caused damage that has interfered with its ability to update its website since then. Its phone lines also were affected.

Testing urged

The Benton Franklin Health District is urging Tri-Cities area residents to be tested for COVID-19 if they have symptoms.

It is concerned there is a potential for increased spread of the virus as gatherings of five or fewer nonhousehold members have been recently allowed in the bicounty area.

The sooner people are tested, the faster those with positive results can be isolated at home and their close contacts asked to remain home until it is clear they are not infected.

Symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, fever, headache, chills, sore throat, muscle aches and loss of taste or smell.

Free drive-thru testing is offered from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at the HAPO Center, formerly TRAC, in Pasco.

Testing also is available at many clinics in the Tri-Cities. The local health district has details posted at bit.ly/TCtestingsites.

This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 2:19 PM.