Washington state tops 80,000 cases and 2,000 deaths. Tri-Cities improving

Tri-Cities health officials announced encouraging progress Wednesday toward reducing the spread of the coronavirus in the region.

The Benton Franklin Health District reported just 20 new COVID-19 cases in the two counties, no new deaths and the lowest number of hospitalized COVID patients in months.

The new cases reported by the local health district put the average cases per day over the last week at 26.

The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 at local hospitals dropped to just 17 on Wednesday, down from 23 the day before.

The number of patients treated at the hospitals in Benton and Franklin counties was in the 40s in late April, dropped to the 30s for much of May and then increased to 89 in late June.

The 17 patients being treated for COVID-19 on Wednesday accounted for just 5% of all patients in the hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

The declining number of hospital patients adds evidence that COVID transmission is decreasing in the Tri-Cities area, rather than the drop being driven by a possible decline in testing this week.

The drive-thru testing center at the HAPO Center in Pasco has been closed in recent days as air quality was rated as hazardous because of smoke from Oregon and California wildfires.

However, public health officials said that testing continues to be widely available. It lists options, including the latest status of the HAPO Center testing site, at bit.ly/TCtestingsites.

School opening targets

To move to a hybrid model for a combination of in-person and remote learning in public schools, the state recommends fewer than 75 cases per 100,000 population over two weeks.

The latest confirmed data based on when people reported their first symptoms of COVID shows that Benton County was down to 117 cases per 100,000 people in the two weeks ending Sept. 4.

It was the lowest confirmed new case rate seen in Benton County since the two weeks ending June 3.

Franklin County had 200 cases per 100,000 for the two weeks ending Sept. 4, the latest confirmed data based on when people reported their first symptoms.

It was the lowest confirmed rate for Franklin County since the two weeks ending May 28.

Tri-Cities cases, deaths

The new cases reported on Wednesday included 14 in Benton County and six in Franklin County.

That compares to 75 new cases and seven deaths reported two months ago in the two counties on July 16.

The 20 new cases on Wednesday bring totals since the start of the pandemic to 4,361 in Benton County and 4,141 in Franklin County for a total of 8,502.

The two counties have lost 163 people to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. They include 114 people living in Benton County and 49 in Franklin County.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health on Tuesday reported 327 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nine deaths.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 80,465 cases and 2,015 deaths, up from 80,138 cases and 2,006 Monday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

Twenty-six people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Aug. 27, the most recent date with complete data. Late March had two days with 88 people admitted, the highest numbers to date during the pandemic.

King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 20,960 cases and 748 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,186 cases and 252 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 7,364 and 190 deaths.

They are followed by Snohomish and Spokane counties and then Benton and Franklin counties.

All counties in Washington have cases. Eleven counties have case counts of fewer than 100.

On Tuesday, Washington had a 1,064-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 1,976, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,410. Vermont is lowest at 272.

There had been more than 6.59 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 195,501 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Tuesday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 931,000 people have died from the disease worldwide.

Craig Sailor with The (Tacoma) News Tribune contributed to this report.