Tri-Cities averaging over 200 new COVID cases daily. 70-plus outbreaks in two months

The Benton Franklin Health District reported 193 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

That puts the average number of cases per day for the week to date at 206.

It’s up from an average of 163 new cases daily last week.

The three weeks before that had steadily increasing rates averaging 122, 82 and 42 cases per day.

Benton County has surpassed its summer peak in cases and Franklin County is close to its summer peak, with the earlier peaks followed by a steep drop in new cases.

Public health officials attributed the earlier drop in cases to more people wearing face coverings in public, but the number of new cases has increased sharply with the start of colder weather. The coronavirus spreads more easily indoors.

Benton and Franklin counties have had more than 70 outbreaks since the start of October at businesses and from gatherings, according to Dr. Amy Person, health officer for the two counties.

A business outbreak is declared if public health contact tracers determine that an employee of a business infected at least one other person at work. Gathering outbreaks involve five or more infected people.

New case rates

The new case rate in Franklin County was 884 new cases per 100,000 population over the two weeks ending Nov. 18.

It is the most recent day for which mostly complete information is available based on when onset of symptoms or collection of testing samples was reported.

In Benton County the new case rate was 758 new cases reported per 100,000 over the same two weeks.

A week earlier the Benton County case rate was 530 and the Franklin County rate was 516, according to data from the Benton Franklin Health District.

Franklin County has not reached its previous peak rate, but Benton County is well over its previous high rate.

In the first peak of the virus this summer in the Tri-Cities area, Benton County reached a case rate just over 400 and Franklin County reached a rate of about 900.

The new cases reported on Wednesday included 129 in Benton County for a total there since the start of the pandemic of 7,635 confirmed cases.

Franklin County had 64 new cases for a total of 6,146 since the start of the pandemic.

Together the two counties have had 13,781 confirmed cases.

Deaths, hospital patients

No additional deaths from complications of COVID-19 were reported by the local health district on Tuesday, leaving the tally at 198, including 134 residents of Benton County and 64 from Franklin County.

Nine deaths from coronavirus infections have been reported in the Tri-Cities area so far this month, with the most recent death reported on Monday.

On Tuesday local hospitals reported that they were treating 44 patients for COVID-19.

That compares to 41 a week ago and 23 a month ago.

The 44 patients being treated for COVID-19 — either with positive test results or pending test results — accounted for 12% of all patients at hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

The Benton Franklin Health District staff will not report case and death numbers again until Monday because of the holiday.

Drive-thru testing open

The drive-thru test site at 3110 W. Argent Road by Columbia Basin College in Pasco will remain open every day this week offering free tests from 8:30 a.m to 4 p.m.

Results are available in one to three days, and preregistration can be done online.

Preregistration speeds up the testing process by having paperwork done in advance, but those who preregister and sign up for an appointment still have to wait through the car line at the testing site.

To preregister or find other test locations throughout Benton and Franklin counties, go to bit.ly/Tri-CitiesTesting.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported 2,887 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 14 deaths Wednesday.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 153,906 cases and 2,704 deaths, up from 151,019 cases and 2,690 deaths Tuesday. Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

Sixty-two people were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Nov. 6, the most recent date with complete data. Average daily hospitalizations peaked in early April at 78.

Approximately 9.2% of all staffed adult acute care hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients on Monday. In the state’s intensive care units, 17.5% of staffed adult beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients.

King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 41,414 cases and 866 deaths. Yakima County ranks second for deaths with 295, followed by Snohomish County with 276 deaths by the state’s count.

Pierce County has the second most cases followed by Snohomish, Yakima, Spokane, Clark, Benton and Franklin counties. If Benton and Franklin counties were considered together, only King and Pierce counties would have more known cases, according to state data.

All counties in Washington have cases. Only five counties have case counts of fewer than 100, including Columbia with 33.

For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 32 per 100,000 people. The national rate for the same period is 52.3 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. North Dakota has the highest rate in the United States, at 155. Hawaii is the lowest, at 6.9.

There have been more than 12.7 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 261,874 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Wednesday 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 poulation.

More than 1.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 60 million.

This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 2:27 PM.