New Tri-Cities COVID cases spike to 266 as testing sites resume normal hours

The 266 new COVID-19 cases reported in the Tri-Cities area on Thursday were double that of previous days of the week.

The increase in new case numbers likely reflects testing returning to normal after the two free, drive thru testing sites in the Tri-Cities were closed for three days for New Year’s eve and day, according to the Benton Franklin Health District.

New case numbers reported earlier this week were averaging 127 cases a day.

That compares to more than 200 per day in the post-Thanksgiving surge in December. But new cases had leveled out and dropped some in late December.

Next week will be the key time to see if there is also an increase in cases due to the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, said Heather Hill, the district’s communicable disease program manager, speaking on the Kadlec on Call podcast.

It is possible that Tri-Cities area residents took note of the problem after Thanksgiving and heeded health officials advice to avoid gatherings, said Dr. Brian York, a Kadlec Regional Medical Center infectious disease specialist.

The number of patients hospitalized locally for COVID now has dropped below the numbers reported for much of December.

Hill recommended that people who celebrated the holidays with people outside of their own families or traveled get tested. That will make sure they don’t have an infection without symptoms and unknowingly spreading the coronavirus.

“The concern right now is that we don’t want people to become complacent,” Hill said.

People are tired of wearing masks, social distancing and staying home, they said.

But “COVID is not done with us,” even as COVID vaccinations will become more widely available, she said.

COVID case rates

The new case rate remains lower than reported before the holidays.

Benton County had a case rate of 558 cases per 100,000 people for the last two weeks of December. That’s down from case rates in the 800s after Thanksgiving.

Franklin County had a case rate of 760 per 100,000 for the last two weeks of December. That’s down from a case rate that exceeded 1,000 after Thanksgiving.

There is a lag in the weeks covered by the latest case rates because newly reported positive test results are backdated to the day when a person sought testing or when symptoms appeared.

The new cases reported on Thursday included 196 in Benton County, putting the total confirmed cases there since the start of the pandemic at 12,100.

Franklin County had 70 new cases for a total of 8,995. The total for both counties since March is 21,095 cases.

There were no new recent deaths due to complications of COVID-19 reported on Thursday — with none reported so far this week — leaving total deaths at 233 since the start of the pandemic.

They include 156 Benton County residents and 77 Franklin County residents.

The number of people hospitalized locally for COVID treatment as of Thursday was the highest reported so far this week at 66.

However, it remains below the recent high of 81 patients in mid December.

The 66 COVID patients as of Thursday accounted for 16% of the 424 patients in the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

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

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported 2,191 new cases of COVID-19 and 64 deaths Wednesday.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 260,752 cases and 3,605 deaths. The case total includes 10,446 cases listed as probable. Those numbers are up from 258,561 cases and 3,541 deaths on Tuesday. 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. 18, the date with the most recent complete data, 115 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.

Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were 96 in late December.

Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,219), approximately 81.2% (990) were occupied Wednesday. Of those occupied ICU beds, 21.8% (266) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.

For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 33.6 per 100,000 people. Five states are lower.

The national rate for the same period is 65.7 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Arizona has the highest rate in the United States, at 118.3. Hawaii is the lowest, at 9.8.

According to the CDC, 104,975 people have been vaccinated with a first dose in Washington and 403,500 doses have been delivered to the state as of Wednesday. Currently approved vaccines require two shots for maximum effectiveness.

On the national level, 17.2 million doses have been distributed and 5.3 million people have received the first shot of the approved vaccines.

On Dec. 26, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 8,170 specimens were collected statewide, with 22% testing positive.

The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 10.6%. 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 66,286 cases and 1,085 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 27,436. Snohomish County has the second-highest number of deaths at 404.

Ranking third for cases is 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.

There have been more than 21 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 360,741 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.

More than 1.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 87 million.

This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 1:56 PM.