41 COVID cases in Tri-Cities area, well over the average for the past week

The number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases increased on Wednesday to 41 in the Tri-Cities area, after cases had been averaging mostly in the low 30s for more than a week.

No additional deaths from complications of COVID were announced Wednesday by the Benton Franklin Health District.

The new cases included 19 in Benton County and 22 in Franklin County. That makes a total of 4,749 cases in Benton County since the start of the pandemic and 4,431 cases in Franklin County. The bicounty total is 9,180.

Total deaths in the Tri-Cities area since the start of the pandemic remain at 171, including 117 residents of Benton County and 54 residents of Franklin County. No deaths have been reported since Friday.

There were 25 patients being treated for COVID-19 at local hospitals on Wednesday, down two from Tuesday.

That compares to numbers being reported in the low 30s to low 40s in early September. As many as 89 patients were hospitalized locally on a single day earlier in the summer.

The 25 patients hospitalized for COVID treatment on Wednesday accounted for almost 8% of all patients in hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

School reopening data

The latest confirmed data from the Washington state Department of Health shows 101 new cases per 100,000 people over the two weeks through Sept. 25 in Benton County, the same as was reported for the two weeks through Sept. 24.

Franklin County has had 176 new cases per 100,000 over the two weeks through Sept. 25, a drop from the two weeks ending the previous day.

Data for more recent days is considered incomplete by the state because newly reported cases are back-dated to the day when a test sample was collected.

The statewide rate is 88 cases per 100,000 over the two weeks.

The state Department of Health recommendation for partial reopening of schools for significant numbers of students is fewer than 75 cases per 100,000 over two weeks.

But Dr. Amy Person, health officer at the local health district, has said that a range of 90 to 100 cases per 100,000 over two weeks has been shown to be adequate for schools to partially reopen without an increase in the spread of the coronavirus.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported Tuesday 387 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and seven deaths.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 90,663 cases and 2,165 deaths, up from 90,276 cases and 2,158 deaths Monday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

Thirty-five people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Sept. 18, 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 23,218 cases and 775 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,506 cases and 263 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 8,368.

Benton and Franklin rank sixth and seventh for cases, following Spokane and Snohomish counties. Franklin County ranks eighth for deaths, behind Clark County, according to state Department of Health statistics.

All counties in Washington have cases. Ten counties have case counts of fewer than 100, including Columbia County with 14 cases.

On Tuesday, Washington had a 1,198-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate is 2,247, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Louisiana has the highest rate in the United States at 3,647. Vermont is lowest at 290.

There had been more than 7.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 210,716 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Tuesday 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 higher rates based on population. More than 1 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 35 million.

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