Tri-Cities COVID cases dip. 1 more death reported

New confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities dipped Wednesday to 58.

The drop — with 24 in Benton County and 34 in Franklin County — comes one day after the Benton Franklin Health District reported 180 new cases.

However, public health officials warned that the data is incomplete because there are about 1,470 “electronic labs” that were not processed Tuesday night and have not yet been assigned to a county.

“Additionally, negative test results data from Nov. 21 through today are incomplete,” according to the district’s website. “Therefore, testing numbers and case counts should be interpreted with caution.”

Officials also announced Wednesday that another Tri-Cities resident has died from complications of the coronavirus.

The latest death was a man in his 80s who lived in Franklin County.

He had underlying health conditions that put him at increased risk of serious illness from the virus, the health district said.

Since the start of the pandemic more than nine months ago, 228 residents of the Mid-Columbia have died from COVID.

Nine COVID-related deaths were reported in the Tri-Cities area this week, and 31 in December.

Hospitalizations dip

The two counties have had 19,084 positive cases in that same time period, including 10,849 in Benton County and 8,235 in Franklin County.

Benton County had a case rate of 761 new cases per 100,000 people for the two weeks ending Dec. 16. The high was 820.

Franklin County had a case rate of 1,004 new cases per 100,000 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.

Mid-Columbia hospitals also have seen a slight dip in the number of patients being treated for COVID-19.

The health district said Wednesday there are 68 people — both with positive test results and pending test results — which amount to 17% of the total 400 patients at the hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

It remains above the Washington state Department of Health’s goal of fewer than 10% of patients being treated for COVID to ensure adequate hospital capacity.

Meanwhile, eight more residents and staff at Tri-Cities long-term care facilities were diagnosed with COVID-19, bringing the pandemic total to 728. Health district data does not give details on which care centers have been affected.

Washington state

The Washington State Department of Health on Tuesday reported 1,252 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 25 new deaths.

Pierce County reported 207 new COVID-19 cases and two new deaths. Pierce County had a total of 277 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Tuesday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 227,887 cases and 3,131 deaths. The case total includes 8,303 cases listed as probable. Those numbers are up from 226,635 cases and 3,106 deaths on Monday. 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.

King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 58,968 cases and 964 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 23,612. Snohomish County has the second-highest number of deaths at 343.

All counties in Washington have reported positive cases. Only four counties have case counts of fewer than 100.

Jon Manley of The (Tacoma) News Tribune contributed to this report.

This story was originally published December 23, 2020 at 1:48 PM.