Tri-Cities 2-week COVID case count increases. No new deaths Friday

The number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Tri-Cities area declined for a second day Friday, but was still higher than numbers being reported a week ago.

There were no new deaths from complications of COVID-19 reported by the Benton Franklin Health District.

There were 24 new cases reported in the Tri-Cities area on Friday, down from a spike to 68 cases on Wednesday and 30 cases on Thursday.

But last Friday there were only 19 new cases and the previous three days that week, 19, 20 and 13 cases were reported.

The rolling two-week number of new cases for Benton County was 210 this week, up from 158 a week earlier on Friday, Sept. 18.

The Washington state Department of Health wants to see Benton County get down to about 150 cases in two weeks for schools to partially reopen.

Franklin County’s rolling two week total of new cases is 150, up from the 114 reported a week ago, Sept. 18. Its state-set goal for school reopening is to drop to about 72 cases over two weeks.

Local public health officials were watching for a possible uptick in cases this week.

The free drive-thru testing at the HAPO Center in Pasco was closed for part of last week because of the smoky air, and some people likely delayed getting tested until this week.

In addition, local health district officials have watched for a possible increase in cases after people may have celebrated on the Labor Day holiday weekend.

Increases in cases were seen locally a couple weeks after other holidays during the pandemic.

A couple weeks would be needed for people infected on Labor Day weekend to develop symptoms, get tested, test results to be available and notification of positive results relayed to the Benton Franklin Health District.

The new cases reported Friday include 11 in Benton County for a total of 4,511 since the pandemic began.

The state Department of Health uses the number of cases backdated to when symptoms were reported as a metric for the rate to allow partial school reopening and does not confirm numbers for up to two weeks to make sure most cases have been reported.

Based on a rate per 100,000 people, it reports 86 cases per 100,000 population as of Sept. 13 in Benton County and the goal is to drop below 75 per 100,000.

In Franklin County 13 new confirmed cases were reported on Friday for a total of 4,242 cases since the start of the pandemic.

Based on the state’s data for the two weeks ending Sept. 13, Franklin County has 185 cases per 100,000 people and needs to get below 75 cases per 100,000 for partial reopening of schools.

The number of people being treated for infections with the coronavirus in Benton and Franklin county hospitals was last reported on Wednesday.

Then 26 people were being treated for COVID, accounting for about 9% of patients in hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser. That’s down from 89 people being treated in local hospitals for COVID in late June.

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

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health on Thursday reported 536 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one less death from the previous day.

The state did not give any explanation for the drop in deaths other than saying the information was up-to-date as of Thursday. The state has periodically adjusted numbers during the pandemic after discovering errors in data reporting.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 84,238 cases and 2,080 deaths, up from 83,702 cases and down from 2,081 deaths Wednesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

Thirty-four people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Sep. 5, 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 21,760 cases and 759 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,331 cases and 257 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 7,736and 198 deaths.

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

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

On Thursday, Washington had a 1,111-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 2,090, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,516. Vermont is lowest at 275.

There had been more than 6.9 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 202,738 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Thursday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation, although some other countries have higher rates based on population. More than 980,000 people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 32 million.

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

This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 12:58 PM.