What are the chances someone at your Tri-Cities Super Bowl party will have COVID?

Public health officials are hoping that people make smart choices on Super Bowl Sunday, helping the number of local new COVID-19 cases to continue to drop.

Gatherings with nonhousehold members are banned by Gov. Jay Inslee now in the Tri-Cities area, but public health officials know people will get together anyway this Sunday, said Heather Hill, communicable disease supervisor for the Benton Franklin Health District. She made the comments while speaking on the Kadlec on Call podcast.

In Franklin County in a gathering of 10 people, there is a 16% chance that someone in the group will be infected with the coronavirus, according to the Georgia Institute of Technology risk estimator. It bases its calculations on the assumption that there are three times more people with COVID-19 than the current confirmed cases.

In Benton County, it estimated the chance that someone infected may be at a party with 10 people drops to 7%.

For a larger gathering, say 20 people, the chance that someone might be infected in Benton County is 13% and in Franklin County is 29%.

If you are attending a Super Bowl party, wear a face mask and keep it on, pulling it up when you chew food and are talking, said Hill. Don’t attend if you feel sick.

Party hosts should think about what food they serve, avoiding “high touch” foods, Hill said. With a high temperature of 50 forecast for the Tri-Cities this Sunday, some activities might be comfortably moved outdoors, she said.

Tri-Cities cases

Another 60 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported Thursday in the Tri-Cities area.

New cases so far this week have averaged 77 per day.

Last week, cases averaged 96 per day, down from an average of 101 cases per day reported the previous week and 152 per day the week before that in mid-January.

The rolling 14-day new case rate for Franklin County, as tracked by the Washington state Department of Health, dropped below 500 for the first time since October.

Franklin County had 498 cases per 100,000 people for the two weeks ending Jan. 28. The state backdates new cases to the day a test sample was collected. It is down from a rate of 561 reported at the end of January.

Benton County had 407 new cases per 100,000 people for the same two-week period, down from 493 reported at the end of January. Rates have been above 400 in Benton County since the Nov. 12 report.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracks a rolling seven day average of daily cases per 100,000 people, allowing a comparison between the Tri-Cities area and the rest of the state and the nation.

For the past seven days in Benton and Franklin counties, cases per day have averaged 26 cases per 100,000 people.

The daily case rate in Washington was 21 and in Oregon it was 15.7 as of Wednesday.

In the United States, daily case rates range from 6.3 in Hawaii to 70.1 in Texas, with 42 the average daily case rate for the nation.

The new Tri-Cities area cases reported Thursday included 38 in Benton County and 22 in Franklin County.

They bring the total local cases confirmed with positive test results since the start of the pandemic to 24,319, including 13,897 in Benton County and 10,362 in Franklin County.

Hospitalizations, deaths

The number of patients being treated for COVID-19 at local hospitals dropped to 46, the Benton Franklin Health District reported Thursday.

That’s down from a spike to 57 patients reported the day before. In January COVID patient counts in the 50s and 60s were reported on most days.

The 46 patients being treated for COVID as of Thursday accounted for just under 11% of all 429 patients hospitalized in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser. It is the lowest percentage reported since November.

The number of deaths of Tri-Cities area residents due to complications of COVID-19 remains at 265, including 32 deaths reported in January and 36 in December.

The Benton Franklin Health District reports recent deaths on Fridays.

Washington state

The Washington State Department of Health reported 1,645 new cases of COVID-19 and 72 deaths Wednesday.

The higher number of deaths reported is due to a data processing backlog from Tuesday that has been cleared, according to the state’s data dashboard.

Statewide case totals have reached 316,294 cases and 4,388 deaths, up from 314,692 cases and 4,316 deaths Tuesday. The new case total includes 14,922 cases that are listed as probable.

The dashboard also notes the total case counts might include up to 560 duplicates due to incomplete data from Nov. 21-30.

“Thus, negative test results and percent positivity (Testing tab) for that period should be interpreted with caution,” the dashboard says. “Otherwise, the incomplete time frames presented in the dashboard are correct and up to date.”

Previous case and death counts are revised daily by the state DOH.

Cases by county

King County continues to report the highest numbers in the state in total cases (79,061), hospitalizations (4,873), deaths (1,264) and vaccine doses given (277,177).

Pierce County reported 117 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. The county’s totals are now at 33,349 cases and 404 deaths since the first confirmed case was reported in March.

Spokane County (33,850 cases, 479 deaths) and Snohomish County (28,096 cases, 494 deaths) have each reported more than 400 deaths, while Yakima County has reported 24,797 cases and 373 deaths.

Benton and Franklin rank seventh and eighth for cases, following Clark County. If Benton and Franklin counties were considered jointly, they would rank fifth for cases, after Snohomish County.

Each of the state’s 39 counties have reported positive cases, and all but one have reported more than 100. Only two counties, San Juan and Wahkiakum, have not reported a virus-related death.

More than 4.6 million tests have been administered in the state since the pandemic began.

The state has distributed 773,346 doses of vaccine, with its current seven-day average at 27,902. The state’s average daily goal is 45,000.

Lauren Smith of The (Tacoma) News Tribune contributed to this report.

This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 2:28 PM.