128 more COVID cases in Tri-Cities area, but no new deaths

The Tri-Cities held consistent with its daily average rate Wednesday with 128 new cases of COVID-19 reported by the Benton Franklin Health District.

The new cases bring the total for the two counties to 20,829 since the start of the coronavirus pandemic early last year.

Benton County — which reported 83 additional cases — has a case rate of 547 per 100,000 people for the two weeks ending Dec. 30. The county now has a total confirmed case count of 11,904.

In Franklin County, the case rate is 746 per 100,000 for the same time period. It had 45 more cases for a total count of 8,925.

The health department had 125 new cases on Tuesday. That was preceded by four days with an average of 127 cases per day.

There were no recent deaths from COVID-19 released Wednesday by health officials. Since the pandemic’s start, 233 Tri-Citians have died.

The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 in local hospitals increased Wednesday to 64.

Those patients accounted for 16.2% of the 396 patients in hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

That’s above the state recommendation of less than 10% to ensure adequate hospital capacity.

Also Wednesday, health officials said two more workers or residents at long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Benton and Franklin counties.

COVID vaccinations

The Washington state Department of Health was expected to announce on Wednesday afternoon what groups of people will be eligible to receive the COVID vaccine next.

Vaccines continue to be given to those the state designated to receive them first — health care workers and residents and workers at long-term care facilities such as nursing homes.

The state will post a vaccine “phase finder” on the internet that will help people determine what phase they are eligible for, said Gov. Jay Inslee in a media briefing this week.

It will also notify people when their phase occurs.

The Benton Franklin Health District expects vaccinating health care workers and nursing home residents to take most of January, with the next phase of vaccination not starting for several weeks yet.

There is no list of people seeking a vaccination being maintained in Washington state, Inslee said.

Vaccines are expected to be available at places where people normally get flu vaccines, including pharmacies, clinics and doctor’s offices.

Some mass vaccination clinics also are a possibility, although no plans have been released.

Becker’s Hospital Review reported Tuesday that Washington state ranks 37th among states for the percentage of vaccine it has received that has been administered, just under 25%.

South Dakota ranked the best with 65% of vaccine received administered and Kansas ranked the worst at 15%.

However, Inslee said that more vaccines were being administered than state data indicated because of a lag in the Department of Health system.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported 2,337 new cases of COVID-19 and 59 deaths Tuesday.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 258,767 cases and 3,541 deaths. The case total includes 10,187 cases listed as probable. Those numbers are up from 256,430 cases and 3,482 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.

As of Dec. 17, the date with the most recent complete data, 96 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.

Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were 105 around Christmas.

About 13.1% (1,117) of all staffed adult acute care hospital beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients Tuesday. In the state’s intensive care units, 20.7% (249) of staffed adult beds were occupied by suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.

On Dec. 25, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 1,814 specimens were collected statewide, with 15.3% testing positive.

The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 10%. More than 3.9 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.

Cases by county

King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 65,834 cases and 1,068 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 27,193. Snohomish County has the second-highest deaths at 397.

Ranking third for cases in Spokane County, followed by Snohomish, Yakima, Clark, Benton and Franklin counties. If Benton and Franklin counties 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 County with 87 cases.

For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 33.3 per 100,000 people. Only four states are lower.

The national rate for the same period is 64.5 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Arizona has the highest rate in the United States, at 112.1. Hawaii is the lowest, at 9.5.

As of Dec. 31, 69,349 people have been vaccinated in Washington and 357,925 doses have been delivered to the state.

There have been more than 21 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 356,540 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.

More than 1.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 86 million.

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

This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 1:59 PM.