1-day dip in new Tri-Cities COVID cases, but another death

The Benton Franklin Health District reported just 22 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, after cases were averaging 33 a day for seven days.

But there was another death reported, bringing the total deaths from complications of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area to 171.

The latest person to die was a Franklin County man in his 70s.

His age put him at risk for a severe case of the disease, but he had no known underlying health problems.

He was the 54th person to have died of complications of the disease in Franklin County. In Benton County 117 residents have died of complications of the disease.

The local health district checks for a positive COVID-19 test result and also checks the birth certificate to make sure it lists a complication of COVID-19 as the cause of death before attributing deaths to the coronavirus.

The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 at local hospitals increased by two to 21 on Friday, up from the previous two days.

But they still accounted for only about 7% of all patients at hospitals in Richland, Pasco, Kennewick and Prosser.

Case rate and schools

There were 16 cases in Benton County and six cases in Franklin County reported on Friday, for a total of 4,623 cases in Benton County since the start of the pandemic and 4,354 cases in Franklin County.

The total for the Tri-Cities area is 8,977.

Although cases had been steadily dropping locally since July, in the last week or so the decline appears to have stopped.

The latest new case rate data confirmed by the state shows that 92 of 100,000 people in Benton County tested positive for COVID-19 during the two week period ending Sept. 20. For Franklin County it was 155.

Preliminary data for the two weeks ending Sept 27 shows that the rate has increased since data was confirmed. Data is backdated to when symptoms appeared, so additional cases may be added to unconfirmed data.

The Washington state Department of Health recommends that some in-person classes not start for general public school students until the case rate drops below the point it considers high, 75 or more new cases per 100,000 people in two weeks.

Dr. Amy Person, the health officer for Benton and Franklin counties, in September recommended that schools partially reopen in October when the case rate was steadily dropping.

She says now she still would feel comfortable with her recommendation if the rates are in the 90 to 100 cases per 100,000 over two weeks. The state considers that a high risk rate of new cases.

Washington state

Statewide Washington has seen a plateau in cases or possibly an uptick, said state officials at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

“We cannot let this virus take off,” said Gov. Jay Inslee. “... We’re making real progress, but the long-term outlook has to be considered uncertain.”

The Washington state Department of Health reported Thursday 564 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and six deaths

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 88,116 cases and 2,132 deaths, up from 87,552 cases and 2,126 deaths Wednesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

Twenty-two people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Sept. 12, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked in early April at 78.

King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 22,529 cases and 759 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,442 cases and 262 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 8,116.

Benton and Franklin rank sixth and seventh for cases, after Snohomish and Spokane counties. Benton County also ranks sixth for number of deaths but Franklin County ranks eighth after Clark County, which now has more deaths than Franklin, according to state data.

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

On Thursday, Washington had a 1,161-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 2,180, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,594. Vermont is lowest at 280.

There had been more than 7.2 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 207,651 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 countries have a higher rate based on population. More than 1 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 34 million.

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

This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 1:26 PM.