2nd Tri-Cities area girl dies from COVID. Deaths now total 219

A second girl has died from complications of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area, according to the Benton Franklin Health District.

She was between 10 and 19 years old and lived in Franklin County.

Like a Kennewick teen who died in November, she had underlying health conditions, according to the health district, which did not immediately release more information.

The girl’s death was one of two recent deaths announced by the local health district on Friday.

The other was a Benton County woman in her 50s with underlying health issues that have been linked to a severe case of COVID-19.

The first teen to die of COVID in the Tri-Cities was a 15-year-old with longstanding disabilities who lived in Kennewick.

The next youngest local people to have died from the virus four people in their 40s. No one in their 20s or 30s in the Tri-Cities is known to have died of complications of COVID.

The deaths announced on Friday bring the total since the start of the pandemic to 219, including 147 Benton County residents and 72 Franklin County residents.

Another 267 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported on Friday by the Benton Franklin Health District. It does not report case numbers on the weekend.

New daily cases have numbered above 200 on most days over the past two weeks, with a couple of days of low counts attributed to state delays in reporting cases by counties when test volumes were high.

The new cases include 164 in Benton County and 103 in Franklin County.

Since the start of the pandemic 18,358 cases have been confirmed with positive test results in the Tri-Cities area, including 10,384 in Benton County and 7,974 in Franklin County.

Local hospitals reported 73 patients being treated for COVID, down from 81 earlier this week. Counts remain at their highest since mid summer.

The 73 patients being treated for COVID as of Friday accounted for 19% of all patients in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

The Washington state Department of Health has set a goal of fewer than 10% of patients being treated for COVID to assure adequate hospital capacity.

COVID and schools

Benton and Franklin counties have recorded their highest new COVID case rates yet.

Franklin County has reached a rate of 1,152 new cases per 100,000 people over two weeks and Benton County has reached a rate of 820 cases per 100,000 people over two weeks.

The most recent case rates are for the two weeks ending Dec. 11. There is a lag in figuring case rates because new cases are backdated to when a person sought testing or symptoms developed.

The Washington state Department of Health now considers any case rate above 350 as high risk for schools reopening — beyond elementary age students with an emphasis on those with special circumstances, such as disabilities or homelessness.

Until Dec. 16 case rates were considered high risk for school reopening at 75 cases per 100,000 people over two weeks.

Public health officials say experience in opening schools across the nation has shown that it can be done safely for younger students if safety protocols are strictly followed.

“We’re happy to see the state has recognized that with proper safety protocols children can be in school, particularly our youngest students,” said Dr. Amy Person, health officer for Benton and Franklin counties, at a Thursday news conference.

The Benton Franklin Health District has worked with local public school districts during the pandemic to evaluate local COVID data and share research and evidence on best practices for school safety.

The youngest students have safely returned to public school in the Tri-Cities for several weeks now, she said.

“Even with our higher disease activity, we do not see evidence of transmission or significant outbreaks within schools,” she said.

“We are happy to see that the state has now aligned with this evidence and this will allow more children across the state to access the important benefits of in-person education and access to school resources,” she said.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported 3,693 new cases of COVID-19 while data revisions dropped deaths by 13 Friday.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 220,268 cases and 3,104 deaths. The case total includes 7,861 cases listed as probable. Those numbers are up from 216,575 cases and down from 3,117 deaths on Thursday. DOH revises previous case and death counts daily.

Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

Ninety-five people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals on Nov. 29, the most recent date with complete data. Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admittances were 117 in mid-December.

Approximately 13.5% (1,175) of all staffed adult acute care hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients on Friday. In the state’s intensive care units, 21% (258) of staffed adult beds were occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.

On Dec. 7, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 28,887 specimens were collected statewide, with 11.6% testing positive. The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 11.6%. More than 3.4 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 57,134 cases and 956 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 22,876. Snohomish County has the second-highest number of deaths at 338.

Spokane has the third highest number of cases, followed by Snohomish, Yakima, Clark, Benton and Franklin counties, according to the latest data that includes all counties. If Benton and Franklin were considered together, they would rank fifth for cases.

All counties in Washington have cases. Only four counties have case counts of fewer than 100, including Columbia with 72 cases.

For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 47 per 100,000 people. The national rate for the same period is 66.1 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tennessee has the highest rate in the United States, at 135.6. Hawaii is the lowest, at 8.4.

There have been more than 17.4 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 313,246 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Friday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.

More than 1.6 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 75 million.

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

This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 2:06 PM.