Rising spread of COVID in Tri-Cities linked to social gatherings without face coverings

Parties and other social gatherings are a major reason why the number of COVID-19 cases in Benton and Franklin counties are still increasing, say health officials

“We know as we are doing more out in the community, we are going to see cases rise,” said Dr. Amy Person, the health officer for the Benton Franklin Health District.

“We are seeing a disturbing trend with the increased number of cases. The good news is that we know that we can turn that trend around,” she said during a Tuesday morning press briefing.

The infection rate will drop again if people wear masks, keep socially distanced and limit gatherings of people from outside of their homes, she said.

This comes as the district reported 33 new cases of COVID-19 in Benton and Franklin counties on Tuesday. That brought the average daily number of cases down to about 44 a day over a seven-day period.

Contact tracers are finding increased virus cases frequently involve people getting together with more than five other people, according to health officials.

In many cases, they aren’t wearing masks and aren’t staying six feet apart.

“The patterns that we are seeing now really speak to individual behaviors,” Dr. Person said. “We do not identify large outbreaks in businesses anymore.”

The health district continues to work on educating people about the importance of following the guidelines to keep safe.

The district’s contact tracing has made it easier to identify cases early and find clusters quickly, Dr. Person said. The outbreaks in businesses that used to number as many as 100 cases are being limited to a handful.

While the rate of new cases is growing, the counties have not reached the same peak they had during the summer when new daily new reached a high of 189.

“When we hit our highest peak, we were able to bring those numbers down quickly with the masking mandate and with the additional guidance to businesses on reopening,” she said.

No new deaths were reported in Benton or Franklin counties on Tuesday. There continues to be 21 people hospitalized for the disease, which accounts for about 6 percent of all hospitalized patients in the Tri-Cities area.

No large outbreaks

With Kennewick School District starting hybrid learning for elementary students this week and Richland schools preparing to start bringing students back next week, Dr. Person continued to point out that there haven’t been any outbreaks among children.

In Benton County, the disease first hit people in their 70s and 80s and affected several of the long-term care centers. People in their 20s now account for the largest contingent of new infections.

In Franklin County, the disease has affected the entire working adult population, many of whom did not have the option of working remotely, Dr. Person said.

“We see differences in both counties, but the one thing that is consistent between both counties is that we do not see a large percentage of cases in children,” she said. “That has remained true even as schools have reopened.”

Tri-Cities private schools haven’t experienced any outbreaks even after more than a month of being open for in-person learning. The same has been true in the public schools which brought in small groups of at-risk children earlier, and now are bringing in bigger groups.

Nationally, schools that follow safety guidelines like masks and 6-foot distance requirements, don’t show outbreaks, Dr. Person said.

The Kennewick School District has not reported any new employee cases since Oct. 12.

The school district is relying heavily on parents to report any potential symptoms in students. They are sending out a morning email or text message reminding parents to check for a fever, cough and other symptoms before letting the child interact with other kids.

Person said the district is working with all the school districts on safety measures.

“We have multiple protocols in place so schools will be notifying us if they have cases,” she said. “We have protocols for what they’ll need to do to identify close contacts and to notify those close contacts. We are very confident that if we see any cases walk into a school that we’ll know early.”

By finding the cases early, they’ll be able to control any potential spread of infections.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported on Monday 460 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 since Sunday and 19 deaths since Friday.

Pierce County reported 54 cases Monday and no new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 185 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Monday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 98,661 cases and 2,258 deaths, up from 98,201 cases Sunday and 2,239 deaths Friday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

Twenty-five people with confirmed COVID-19 cases were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Sept. 30, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked in early April at 78.

On Oct. 8, the most recent date with complete data, 18,380 specimens were collected statewide, with 3.7% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 3.3%. More than 2.2 million tests have been conducted in Washington.

The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction tests, which are administered while the virus is presumably still active in the body.

King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 25,219 cases and 794 deaths. Yakima County is second, with 11,713 cases and 267 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 9,324, according to the state’s tally.

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

For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 8.2-per-100,000-people. The national rate for the same period is 16.7 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. North Dakota has the highest rate in the United States at 92.1. Vermont is the lowest at 1.4.

There have been more than 8.2 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 220,046 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. More than 1.1 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 40 million.

Craig Sailor of the Tacoma News Tribune contributed to this story.

This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 2:57 PM.