Another COVID death in Tri-Cities, with new cases rising in recent days

The Tri-Cities has had another death and 130 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 since Friday’s report from the Benton Franklin Health District.

That comes to an average of 33 cases per day reported from Saturday to Tuesday.

The local health district does not report cases and deaths on the weekend, and a technical issue kept it from releasing any numbers Monday.

The health district also reported the number of people hospitalized locally for COVID-19 for the first time in six days, showing a drop to 22 patients.

The cases reported for the last four days raise the rolling two-week tally of new cases for Benton County from 210 on Friday to 222 on Tuesday.

In Franklin County the rolling two week number of new cases increased from 150 to 170.

The Washington state Department of Health said on Friday that the sharp drop in the number of new cases earlier this summer appears to have stalled in Benton and Franklin counties.

Local public health officials have been watching for a possible uptick this month, concerned that some people celebrated Labor Day with extended family and friends and spread the coronavirus.

State officials want to see a rate of fewer than 75 cases per 100,000 people before public schools move to a hybrid instruction program with at-home and in-person classes.

The Washington state Department of Health puts the latest confirmed rate of new cases over two weeks per 100,000 people in Benton County at 94 and in Franklin County at 143 per 100,000. That’s for the two-week period through Sept. 17.

New information from the Institute for Disease Modeling in Bellevue, Wash., shows that even when 110 cases per 100,000 are reported over two weeks, schools with good safety practices can reopen without a significant increase in new cases in the community, Dr. Amy Person, the health officer for Benton and Franklin counties, has said.

Cases, deaths, hospitalizations

The four days of new cases include 61 in Benton County and 69 in Franklin County.

They bring the total cases in Benton County to 4,572 and to 4,311 in Franklin County, or 8,883 in the bicounty area.

The death reported Tuesday due to complications of COVID-19 was a Benton County man in his 70s. He was at increased risk of severe illness from infection with the coronavirus both because of his age and also underlying health conditions.

There were 22 patients hospitalized locally for COVID treatment on Tuesday. That was down one patient from the previous report on Sept. 23.

There have been technical issues this month with reporting hospitalized patients to the local health district, but limited data indicates the number has dropped this month.

The month started with 33 people hospitalized locally for COVID, and earlier this summer there were as many as 89 patients hospitalized in Benton and Franklin counties.

The 22 patients being treated for COVID on Tuesday accounted for just 7% of all patients in the hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

Washington state

The Washington State Department of Health on Monday reported 369 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. Deaths were not reported due to a DOH data link interruption.

Worldwide, more than 1 million people have died from the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 86,638 cases and 2,100 deaths, up from 86,269 cases Sunday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

Nineteen people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Sept. 9, 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 21,198 cases and 768 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,405 cases and 258 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 7,961 and 200 deaths.

Benton and Franklin continue to rank sixth and seventh, following Snohomish and Spokane counties.

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

On Monday, Washington had a 1,145-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 2,144, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,564. Vermont is lowest at 278.

There had been more than 7.1 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 205,031 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Monday 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. Global cases exceed 33 million.

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

This story was originally published September 29, 2020 at 1:42 PM.