COVID cases dropping in Tri-Cities. But caution urged for new variants

Confirmed COVID cases in the Tri-Cities area are on the decline, said Dr. Amy Person, health officer for Benton and Franklin counties.

“This is a trend that has been stable over the last couple weeks and does give us confidence that we have seen the worst of the effects from the post holiday surge,” she said Thursday.

And she said they expect that will continue to decrease “as long as people continue to follow the appropriate infection control and mitigation strategies.”

New variants of the coronavirus that are making their way into the United States are more easily transmissible, and people need to protect themselves and others, she said.

They must continue to physically distance, properly wear a mask, not spend time with nonhousehold members and stay home when sick, she said.

The number of patients being treated at Tri-Cities area hospitals for COVID-19 have not followed the same decreasing trend over recent weeks.

But that’s not surprising, she said.

An increase in COVID hospital patients occurs after a surge in cases as people become sick enough from the coronavirus to require hospital treatment.

Hospital cases could start to fall behind the drop in new cases.

On Thursday, just 47 COVID-19 patients were being treated at local hospitals. It is the lowest patient count this month.

Tri-Cities cases

Another 126 cases of COVID-19 were reported Thursday in the Tri-Cities area by the Benton Franklin Health District.

It was the highest number of the week, bringing the average number of daily cases so far this week — starting with the weekend — to 97.

Last Thursday also had the highest new case count for the week with 146 new cases reported.

Cases so far this week are still down slightly from an average of 101 cases per day reported last week. The week before cases were averaging 152 each day.

Health district officials watch case rates that give a longer look at trends more closely than daily cases, and both the Benton and Franklin case rates that were reported on Thursday continued their fall.

Benton County had 510 new cases per 100,000 people for the two weeks ending Jan. 21. It is the lowest case rate reported since mid November.

At the start of the week the reported case rate for Benton County was 601.

Franklin County had 571 new cases per 100,000 for the two weeks ending Jan. 21. It is the lowest case rate reported since before Thanksgiving.

At the start of the week the reported case rate for Franklin County was 671.

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.

Hospital cases

The 47 COVID-19 patients being treated in area hospitals as of Thursday was down from as many as 60 earler in the week.

Until Thursday, COVID patient counts had been in the 50s and 60s all months.

The COVID patients on Thursday accounted for 11% of all 423 patients in hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Prosser and Pasco. The percentage was as high as 16% earlier in the month.

Infections of the coronavirus continue to be detected in residents and staff of long-term care centers for the elderly, including nursing homes.

On Thursday the total COVID cases confirmed in residents and staff since the start of the pandemic reached 800. That is up from 740 at the end of December.

The 126 new cases reported in all Tri-Cities area residents on Thursday included 83 people in Benton County and 43 in Franklin County.

Total cases confirmed through positive test results since the start of the pandemic number 23,786 for both counties, including 13,862 in Benton County and 9,924 in Franklin County.

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

Vaccine

As of Wednesday, 13,592 doses of the COVID vaccine had been administered in Benton County and 2,747 in Franklin County, according to the latest data submitted by providers and clinics to the Washington state Department of Health.

In the two counties, 2,526 people are fully vaccinated with two shots. Currently approved vaccines require two shots for maximum effectiveness.

According to DOH, 545,226 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Washington.

As of Monday, 774,425 doses had been delivered to state providers and 125,775 had been delivered for the CDC’s long-term care vaccination program. Of those delivered doses, 60.5% had been administered.

Currently, Washington state is in phase 1B tier 1 of vaccinations. That phase adds anyone 65 and older and people 50 and older living in multigenerational households.

On the national level, 47.2 million doses have been distributed and 24.6 million shots of the approved vaccines have been given, according to CDC statistics. The population of the United States is approximately 328 million.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported 1,825 new cases of COVID-19 and 44 deaths Wednesday.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 305,289 cases and 4,211 deaths. Those numbers are up from 303,464 cases and 4,167 deaths Tuesday. The case total includes 13,588 cases listed as probable. 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 Jan. 8, the date with the most recent complete data, 126 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.

Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were 94 in mid-January.

Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,208), approximately 80.5% (973) were occupied by patients Wednesday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 16.3% (197) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.

For the past seven days, Washington had a case rate of 21.6 per 100,000 people. Five states were lower.

The national rate for the same period was 50.2 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Arizona has the highest rate in the United States at 92.1. Hawaii is the lowest at 7.6.

On Jan. 8, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 24,763 specimens were collected statewide, with 9.7% testing positive.

The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 10%. More than 4.4 million tests have been conducted in Washington.

Cases by county

King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 76,559 cases and 1,230 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 33,192. Snohomish County has the second-highest number of deaths at 479.

Benton and Franklin County rank seventh and eighth for cases in the state, behind Spokane, Snohomish Yakima and Clark counties. If they are considered together, they would rank fifth in the state for cases.

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

This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 2:39 PM.