Tri-Cities area COVID cases climb above 22,000. New case rates are high

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Tri-Cities area has topped 22,000 since the start of the pandemic, with another 153 cases of COVID-19 reported Tuesday.

It puts the average number of cases per day announced for the weekend through Tuesday at 157 per day, according to information from the Benton Franklin Health District.

That’s down from the average number of cases reported daily last week by the Benton Franklin Health District of 176 each day. In reports the week before that — the last week of December — new cases were averaging 164 a day.

Public health officials have been watching for a post-holiday spike in cases due to gatherings and travel, but it has not appeared yet.

However, new case rates remain high.

Benton County’s latest case rate climbed above the 500s for the first time this month in Tuesday’s report. It had 621 new cases per 100,000 people for the two weeks ending Jan. 5.

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.

Franklin County also had its highest case rate reported this month with 768 new cases per 100,000 reported for the two weeks ending Jan. 5.

Case rates for both counties remain below the post-Thanksgiving spike, when the Benton County rate climbed above 800 and the Franklin County rate climbed above 1,000.

Hospital capacity

The number of local hospital patients being treated for COVID-19 held steady for the second day in a row at 59, as reported Tuesday. COVID patients had not been below 60 on any day since early December.

Previous high hospitalization numbers for COVID patients included 89 one day in late June and 81 on a day in December.

The 59 COVID patients reported Tuesday accounted for just under 15% of the 404 patients at hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser.

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

The Benton Franklin Health District does not plan to report new recent deaths from COVID-19 until Friday as a new state law limits access to data for death records to keep personal information private.

With no COVID deaths reported by the health district in the Tri-Cities area since the law took effect Jan. 1, the number of deaths for the two county area remains at 233. That includes 156 Benton County residents who have died and 77 Franklin County residents.

The new cases reported Tuesday in the Tri-Cities area included 94 in Benton County and 59 in Franklin County.

They bring total cases in Benton County to 12,731 and total cases in Franklin County to 9,330, for 22,061 cases confirmed in both counties since the start of the pandemic.

COVID vaccine

The Washington state Department of Health will launch “Phase Finder” online Monday, Jan. 18, to help people know when they are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine.

State residents can enter information that will help the state place them in a vaccine eligibility phase. They will be notified when their phase is allowed to start getting vaccinated.

Now vaccines are being given to health care workers, emergency medical technicians, and long- term care center employees and residents. In some cases where the remainder of vaccine shipments otherwise would go to waste, they may be given to people outside those groups, such as teachers.

Next, possibly late this month, vaccinations could start for all people 70 or older and people 50 or older who live in a multigenerational home, defined as a home with people of at least two generations.

In February vaccination could broaden to cover high-risk critical workers 50 years or older who work in agriculture, food processing, grocery stores, schools, childcare, jails, public transit, and fire and law enforcement.

In March people 16 or older with two or more underlying health conditions could start to be vaccinated.

In April high risk critical workers under 50 could start to be vaccinated, along with people who live, work or volunteer in group homes for people with disabilities or the homeless or in jails.

Vaccines are expected to be available for anyone who wants them in late spring or early summer.

In Washington state and the Tri-Cities area waiting lists are not being used for people wanting vaccines.

Instead, people will need to check with their doctor, pharmacies and clinics as they become eligible for a vaccine. As vaccinations become available community wide, the Benton Franklin Health District may have community-wide vaccination events.

The Washington state Department of Health is working with Microsoft to make more county-level data on vaccines publicly available soon through a new online dashboard.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported 2,214 new cases of COVID-19 Monday. Death data was not updated Monday.

Pierce County reported 296 cases Monday and four new deaths. Pierce County has a total of 334 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Monday, according to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 276,686 cases and 3,699 deaths. The case total includes 11,374 cases listed as probable. Those numbers are up from 274,472 cases Sunday and 3,698 deaths on Friday. 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. 23, the date with the most recent complete data, 114 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.

Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were 99 in early January.

Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,199), approximately 80.4% (964) were occupied by patients Monday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 19.5% (234) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.

For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 36.2 per 100,000 people. Five states are lower.

The national rate for the same period is 74.1 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rhode Island has the highest rate in the United States at 130.3. Hawaii is the lowest at 12.5.

According to the CDC, 188,215 people in Washington (2.4% of the population) have been vaccinated with a first dose and 565,775 doses have been delivered to the state as of Monday. Currently approved vaccines require two shots for maximum effectiveness.

Currently, Washington state is in phase 1A of vaccinations. That phase includes high-risk health care workers, high-risk first responders and residents and staff of congregate living settings such as nursing homes.

On the national level, 25.4 million doses have been distributed and 8.9 million people have received the first shot of the approved vaccines. The population of the United States is approximately 328 million.

On Dec. 31, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 12,410 specimens were collected statewide, with 17.8% testing positive.

The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 17.1%. More than 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.

Cases by county

King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 70,059 cases and 1,105 deaths.. Snohomish County has the second-highest number of deaths at 419. Pierce County is second in cases, with 29,205

Pierce County is followed by Spokane, Snohomish, Yakima, Clark, Benton and Franklin counties. If Benton and Franklin counties were considered together, they would rank fifth in the state for cases, according to the latest complete data for cases.

All counties in Washington have cases. Only four counties have case counts of fewer than 100, including Columbia with 92.

There have been more than 22 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 375,892 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Monday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.

More than 1.9 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 90 million.

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

This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 1:51 PM.