Tri-Cities COVID new case rates take sharp drop

Another 275 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area were announced by the Benton Franklin Health District on Monday.

However, in more encouraging news, case rates and hospitalizations reported on Monday included some of the lowest numbers of the month.

The cases announced on Monday were those reported to the district since Friday for an average of 92 per day.

It’s a little more than the 84 cases per day reported the previous weekend for the Tri-Cities area. Last week an average of 101 cases per day were reported and the week before cases were averaging 152 per day.

The new case rate, as measured over two weeks, dropped significantly for both Benton and Franklin Counties, according to data released Monday.

Benton County had 601 new cases per 100,000 for the two week period through Jan. 18. That’s down from the 704 case rate reported on Friday.

It’s the lowest case rate since the first 11 days of January when case rates were in the 500s.

Franklin County had its lowest case rate of the month.

It had 671 new cases per 100,000 for the two week period through Jan. 18. That’s down from the 786 case rate reported on Friday. The previous low case rate reported this month was 706.

The 275 new confirmed cases reported on Monday included 180 in Benton County and 95 in Franklin County.

Case rates give a snapshot of a longer period than daily new case numbers but reports lag daily case reports. Case rates are based on when a person sought testing or when symptoms appeared, rather than when positive case results were reported to public health agencies.

The Tri-Cities area has now had 23,479 cases confirmed through positive test results since the start of the pandemic, including 13,666 in Benton County and 9,813 in Franklin County.

COVID hospitalizations

The Benton Franklin Health District has reported 256 deaths of local residents due to complications of COVID-19. It currently updates death information once a week on Fridays.

The number of people being treated in local hospitals for COVID-19 also is trending downward, with Monday’s COVID patient count the lowest of the month.

There were 52 patients being treated as reported Monday, down one from the Friday report.

On the last day of December 74 patients were being treated for COVID-19 at area hospitals.

The 52 COVID patients on Monday accounted for just under 13% of the 413 of the total patients at the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals. It is the first time the percentage has dropped below 13% this month.

Washington state

The Washington State Department of Health on Saturday reported 1,949 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, passing 300,000 total cases in the process. The department does not report new cases on Sundays or deaths on Saturdays or Sundays.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are at 300,198 cases and 4,114 deaths, up from 298,249 cases on Friday. The case total includes 13,167 cases listed as probable. DOH revises previous case and death counts daily.

In a note on the department’s dashboard, the DOH said the total case counts may include up to 650 duplicates.

King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 75,433 cases and 1,203 deaths. Snohomish County has 26,925 cases and 470 deaths. Yakima County has 23,690 cases and 360 deaths. Pierce has 32,305 cases.

Benton and Franklin counties rank seventh and eighth in the state for cases. Combined they would rank fifth.

All counties in Washington have cases.

This story was originally published January 25, 2021 at 2:52 PM.