Another Tri-Cities area COVID death, as recent climb in local cases continues

The number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Tri-Cities area jumped to 47 on Tuesday, and the death of another local resident was announced by the Benton Franklin Health District.

The new case count is up from an average of 40 for each the previous three days, plus a daily average of 38 new cases per day for the seven days ending Oct. 9 and an average of 32 new cases a day the week ending Oct. 2.

However, counts still remain lower than they were two months ago.

The latest death was a Franklin County man in his 70s. He was at risk of a severe infection both because of his age and because he had underlying health conditions.

The risk of a severe case of COVID-19 increases if people are 60 or older or have underlying health conditions, such as heart disease, lung disease, obesity or diabetes.

Total deaths since the start of the pandemic in Benton and Franklin counties now total 187. They include 125 Benton County residents who have died and 62 residents of Franklin County.

The local health district requires a positive test for COVID-19 and then checks the death certificate to be certain that COVID was the cause of death before including it in its tally of deaths.

Confirmed cases total 9,412, including 4,860 in Benton County and 4,552 in Franklin County.

Twenty patients were being treated for COVID-19 at local hospitals on Tuesday, down from 28 patients on Friday and 22 on Monday.

They account for just 6% of all patients at hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

The Washington state Department of Health released no updated statewide numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths my midday Tuesday because of technical issues that began on Sunday.

This story was originally published October 13, 2020 at 1:34 PM.