Inslee praises Tri-Cities, warns COVID superspreaders ‘don’t ruin the progress’

This story has been updated to correct an error in the daily case number.

Fifty new confirmed cases of COVID-19 but no new deaths due to the coronavirus were announced by the Benton Franklin Health District on Wednesday.

The cases in the Tri-Cities area were up from 47 new cases announced Tuesday and the 40 average new cases per day for the past weekend.

That compares with 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.

Gov. Jay Inslee called out Benton County in a news conference Tuesday, saying that its recent confirmed new case rate was a quarter of the rate seen in July. Case rates in both Franklin and Benton counties were “off the charts” in July, he said.

“Frankly, folks are working hard on this and those who aren’t we need them to pull on the rope,” he said. “We don’t want a few superspreaders to ruin the progress.”

In recent weeks the steep decline in new cases since early- to mid-July has stalled, followed by a comparatively small uptick for both counties.

Inslee said he is concerned that the coronavirus will spread as the weather cools and people spend more time indoors, where the virus is more easily spread.

Case and hospital stats

For the second day 20 people were being treated Wednesday at area hospitals for COVID-19, down from 28 patients on Friday and 22 on Monday.

The COVID patients on Wednesday accounted for just under 6% of all patients in the hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

The overall new COVID-19 cases announced Tuesday include 32 cases in Benton County and 18 in Franklin County.

Total cases confirmed with positive test results for the coronavirus in both counties total 9,462, including 4,892 cases in Benton County and 4,570 cases in Franklin County.

Total deaths since the start of the pandemic in Benton and Franklin counties now total 187. They include 126 Benton County residents who have died, including the death of a Benton County man in his 70s announced on Tuesday, and 61 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.

School reopening case rates

The latest confirmed case rates tallied by the Washington state Department of Health for Benton County climbed to 121 cases per 100,000 people over the two weeks ending Oct. 2.

The new case rate had dropped to as low as 83 for the two weeks ending Sept. 10.

In Franklin County the confirmed new case rate is 198 cases per 100,000 for the two weeks ending Oct. 2.

Its new case rate had dropped to as low as 144 for the two weeks ending Sept. 17.

The confirmed rates for Benton and Franklin counties are expected to continue to climb for at least the next few days, based on preliminary data.

There is a lag time in confirming cases because new cases are backdated after the day they are reported to either when symptoms first appeared or when nasal or saliva samples for testing were collected.

The Washington state Department of Health recommends that schools not reopen for limited in-person classes until case rates are no longer considered high, which it puts at 75 or more new cases per 100,000 over two weeks.

However, Dr. Amy Person, the local health officer for the Benton Franklin Health District, says as more schools have reopened around the nation and internationally, it appears that new case rates can be as high as 200 per 100,000 over two weeks without a major spread of the coronavirus within schools, if safety protocols are strictly followed.

Phase 2 of reopening

On Tuesday Benton and Franklin counties moved to Phase 2 of reopening during the coronavirus pandemic.

Newly allowed activities include more inside seating in bars and restaurants, larger indoor church services, movie theater openings, more people in barber and hair salon shops, more customers in dog grooming shops, libraries and museums can open, along with small wedding and funeral receptions and bowling league play.

However, indoor nursing home and assisted living visits remain prohibited in the two counties. New case rates remain too high even though the counties are in Phase 2.

Gov. Jay Inslee said he was allowing the counties to move up from modified Phase 1 to Phase 2 because of progress since early July in reducing new case rates. He attributed the improvement to steps made by residents, such as wearing cloth face coverings when around anyone but household members, and local leadership.

New Washington effort

Gov. Jay Inslee introduced a new state effort on Tuesday to help communities recover from the social and economic damage resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Washington Recovery Group will help state agencies coordinate with local governments, higher education and the private sector.

“COVID-19 has tested our state in many ways and each crisis is a learning experience,” Inslee said in a release.

“While local governments, businesses and our agencies have made heroic efforts to protect and care for our communities, this crisis highlights gaps we need to close in our emergency recovery efforts and long-term rebuilding efforts,” he said. “This new group will help state agencies change how we do business so that we can better serve the people of Washington.”

State agency experts will work with local stakeholders and tribal partners to implement recovery solutions and pathways.

Those ideas and policy solutions will be presented to cabinet agencies and the Office of Financial Management. The areas of focus include: Community and social services, education and childcare, employment and jobs, equity and social justice, health and healthcare, housing, infrastructure and energy and support for small business.

Washington state cases

The Washington state Department of Health reported on Tuesday 1,740 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 21 deaths.

The numbers reflect a backlog of data. The state did not report coronavirus data on Monday and it does not report deaths on weekends.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 94,775 cases and 2,211 deaths, up from 93,035 cases Sunday and 2,190 deaths Friday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

Thirty-one people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Sept. 24, 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 24,297 cases and 788 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,609 cases and 266 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 8,823 and 213 deaths, according to the state’s tally.

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

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

For the past seven days, Washington had a 6.8-per-100,000-people case rate. The national rate for the same period is 15.2, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. North Dakota has the highest rate in the United States at 72.9. Vermont is lowest at 1.4.

There had been more than 7.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 215,549 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 a higher rate of death based on population. More than 1 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 37 million.

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

This story was originally published October 14, 2020 at 2:04 PM.