3 more COVID deaths reported in Tri-Cities area. But new cases down from 1-day spike

The number of new COVID-19 cases reported Thursday in the Tri-Cities area dropped back to more typical levels after a worrisome spike Wednesday.

But there were three new deaths from complications of COVID-19 reported by the Benton Franklin Health District.

They included a Benton County man in his 70s, a Franklin County man in his 70s and a Franklin County woman in her 80s. All were at risk of a severe case of COVID-19 due to their age, but only the woman had underlying health conditions.

On Thursday 30 new cases were reported, down from the 68 cases on Wednesday. On Tuesday 26 cases were reported.

The cases Thursday included 22 in Benton County bringing confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic to 4,500 cases there.

Franklin County had just eight new cases for a total of 4,229 cases, adding up to 8,729 cases for the two counties.

The age group with the most confirmed cases of COVID-19 in each county is people in their 20s, followed by people in their 30s.

For a third month Benton County is continuing to see cases generally decline, but Franklin County cases have plateaued recently.

“Data on one day doesn’t necessarily make a trend,” said Heather Hill, the communicable disease supervisor for the Benton Franklin Health District, speaking on the Kadlec on Call podcast.

Public health officials are continuing to watch for a possible uptick in cases in the weeks following Labor Day celebrations and know there could have been people who delayed testing when the free drive-thru testing site at the HAPO Center in Pasco was closed because of the smoky air last week.

Since the pandemic started, 168 people in Benton and Franklin counties have died, including 115 from Benton County and 53 from Franklin County.

The death toll includes 75 people in their 80s or older. However, there have been three people as young as their 40s who have died, and medical professionals are concerned that they are seeing heart damage in some of the patients who survived.

Updated data on the number of local patients hospitalized for treatment of COVID was not available on Thursday.

COVID testing

The Benton Franklin Health District is expecting the need for testing to increase as flu and cold season arrives and people spend more time indoors, where the coronavirus can more easily spread.

The symptoms of cold and flu often mimic COVID-19 and people will need to be tested to determine which illness they have.

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, catching cases quickly is needed to allow those infected and those with whom they had close contact to isolate until it is clear they are not infectious.

Information on testing done at sites throughout the Tri-Cities, including the new free drive-thru site at Columbia Basin College, is posted at bit.ly/TCtestingsites.

Free COVID-19 testing and a food drive are planned 1-6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Basin City Elementary School in Mesa.

Free masks and cleaning kits will be handed out to families.

The event is planned by Raiz, Tri-Cities Immigrant Coalition and the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health on Wednesday reported 509 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 11 deaths.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 83,702 cases and 2,081 deaths, up from 83,193 cases Tuesday and 2,070 deaths Tuesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

Sixteen people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Sep. 4, 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 21,650 cases and 759 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,316 cases and 257 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 7,697 and 200 deaths.

Benton and Franklin counties are sixth and seventh, after Snohomish and Spokane counties.

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

On Wednesday, Washington had a 1,104-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 2,078, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,503. Vermont is lowest at 275.

There had been more than 6.9 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 201,882 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation, although some countries have a higher rate based on population. More than 973,000 people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 31 million.

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

This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 1:53 PM.