More Tri-Cities area COVID deaths as new daily cases double over two weeks

The Tri-Cities area has 187 more confirmed COVID-19 cases and two more deaths linked to complications of the disease, the Benton Franklin Health District reported on Wednesday.

The number of people hospitalized locally for treatment of COVID-19 increased to a level not seen in local health district reports for months.

The new cases reported on Wednesday put the average daily number so far this week at 175 per day, a doubling from two weeks ago.

It compares to 122 cases per day on average last week, 82 per day the previous week and 42 per day the week before that. Local cases are reported on a weekly schedule of the weekend through Friday.

The two recent deaths reported on Wednesday included a Franklin County woman in her 50s who had underlying health conditions.

The other was a Benton County man in his 60s who was at increased risk of a severe case both because he was older than 60 and had underlying health issues.

Their deaths bring the total reported from the disease in the Tri-Cities area this month to eight.

Since the start of the pandemic there have been 197 local deaths, including 133 residents of Benton County and 64 residents of Franklin County.

Hospital cases up

The number of people hospitalized locally for treatment of COVID — either with a positive test results or pending results — was 41 on Wednesday.

Previously the number had been in the 30s on most days this month, with a couple of days in the 20s. Although data has not been available for all days, patient numbers have not been reported to be in the 40s for multiple days since early August.

The 41 COVID patients on Wednesday accounted for 10% of all patients in the hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

The new cases the health district reported on Wednesday included 117 in Benton County and 70 in Franklin County.

Benton County now has had 6,839 cases of COVID-19 confirmed since the start of the pandemic and Franklin County has had 5,646, for a bicounty total of 12,485.

The most recent two-week case rate available for both counties is now above 500.

In Benton County 530 cases were reported per 100,000 over the two weeks ending Nov. 11. Franklin County had 516 cases reported per 100,000 for the same two weeks.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported an all-time daily high of 2,589 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 along with 23 deaths on Tuesday. The previous record case high was reported Sunday.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 134,121 cases and 2,571 deaths, up from 131,532 cases and 2,548 deaths Monday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

Hospitalizations of confirmed COVID-19 patients continue to climb with 64 people being admitted to Washington state hospitals on Oct. 29, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked in early April at 78.

On Nov. 6, the most recent date with complete data, a record high 21,858 specimens were collected statewide, with 8.3% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 7%. More than 2.8 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 35,669 cases and 845 deaths. Pierce County is second, with 13,461 cases, and 257 deaths, according to the state’s tally.

Spokane County has past Yakima County for cases, but Yakima has the second highest number of deaths in the state at 289. Spokane County has had 12,938 cases and 226 deaths. Yakima County has had 12,631 cases.

Benton County ranks sixth for cases after Snohomish and Franklin County ranks eighth after Clark County, according to the latest complete statewide data. If Benton and Franklin counties were considered together, they would rank fifth.

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

For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 24.6 per 100,000 people. The national rate for the same period is 47.5 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. North Dakota has the highest rate in the United States, at 180.9 Hawaii is the lowest, at 5.8.

There have been more than 11.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 248,424 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 1.3 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 55 million.

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