4 more Tri-Citians die of COVID. December already has almost triple November deaths
Four more Tri-Cities area residents have died of complications of COVID-19, the Benton Franklin Health District reported Monday.
The youngest was in his 40s.
They bring the total COVID deaths reported to date in December to 26, up from nine in November.
Since the start of the pandemic, 223 residents of the Tri-Cities area have died from COVID, including 151 in Benton County and 72 in Franklin County.
The most recent deaths of Benton County residents include a man in his 40s, a woman in her 50s and a man in his 90s. The fourth recent death was a Franklin County man in his 70s.
All four had underlying health conditions that put them at increased risk of serious illness from the coronavirus.
New COVID cases
New confirmed COVID-19 cases have averaged about 163 per day over the past three days, according to the Benton Franklin Health District.
Since Friday, it has had reports of 488 new cases. It does not report cases over the weekend.
The spread of the coronavirus appears to have leveled off or possibly slowed some after a surge following Thanksgiving Day.
New daily case numbers had topped 200 for most days over the past two weeks.
But now public health officials are worried about another surge of new cases after Christmas Day.
“It is still possible to celebrate holidays, but to think carefully about how to do that safely,” said Dr. Amy Person, health officer for the Benton Franklin Health District.
“When we think about getting together with family and friends, we need to remember that where we see highest risk and the highest likelihood of disease transmission is in these gatherings with people outside of our households,” she said.
People still shopping for Christmas should continue to support local businesses, but people at high risk may want to choose curbside pickup, she said. For people going into stores, take a list so the time inside is short, she said.
The 488 new cases reported for the last three days included 306 in Benton County and 182 in Franklin County.
The two counties combined have had 18,846 cases since the start of the pandemic, including 10,690 in Benton County and 8,156 in Franklin County.
Case rates, hospitalizations
The latest two-week new case rate for both counties has dropped slightly since hitting highs on Friday.
Benton County had a case rate of 803 new cases per 100,000 people for the two weeks ending Dec. 14, down from a high of 820.
Franklin County had a case rate of 1,093 new cases per 100,000 people for the same time period, down from a high of 1,152.
There is a delay in figuring case rates because positive test results are backdated to the date the person had the test done or when symptoms first appeared.
Local hospitals are treating 63 patients for COVID-19, the Benton Franklin Health District reported on Monday.
Daily COVID patient counts have not dropped that low since Dec. 4. Since then, as many as 81 patients have been treated on a single day at area hospitals. In late June the COVID patient count at local hospitals was as high as 89.
The 63 people being treated for COVID as of Monday — both with positive test results and pending test results — amounted to 17% of patients at the hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.
While that’s down from last week, it still does not meet the Washington state Department of Health goal of fewer than 10% of patients being treated for COVID to ensure adequate hospital capacity.
Holiday testing
Tri-Cities area residents should be able to get a free, drive-thru COVID-19 everyday this week, except Christmas.
The West Columbia Basin College drive-thru test site at 3110 W. Argent Road, Pasco, will be open every day from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Christmas day.
The drive-thru testing site at The HAPO Center, formerly TRAC, in Pasco will be closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Saturday Dec. 26.
It is usually open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays.
Preregistration can be done for both online at bit.ly/Tri-CitiesTesting. More information about testing at the those two sites and at other places, from clinics to pharmacies, is posted at the same link.
Washington state
The Washington State Department of Health on Saturday reported 2,332 new confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The department no longer reports new cases on Sunday and does not report new COVID-19 deaths on Saturday or Sunday.
The department noted that Saturday’s total case counts may include up to 200 duplicates. Negative test results data from Nov. 21, 2020 through today are incomplete, as are positive test results from Dec. 18, 2020, thus testing and case numbers should be interpreted with caution.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 222,600 cases and 3,104 deaths, up from 22,268 cases on Friday.
King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 57,783 cases and 956 deaths. Snohomish County has 19,819 cases and 338 deaths. Yakima County has 17,438 cases and Pierce has 23,114 cases.
All counties in Washington have cases.
Jon Manley of The (Tacoma) News Tribune contribute to this report.
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 2:46 PM.