Tri-Cities COVID cases level off. More vaccine help for seniors and veterans

The Tri-Cities area held steady Tuesday with another 30 new cases of the coronavirus, according to the Benton Franklin Health District.

The 18 new cases in Benton County and 12 in Franklin County brought the total number of Mid-Columbia residents diagnosed with COVID-19 to 25,874 since the pandemic began just over one year ago.

The district on Monday reported 94 more cases — an average of 31 per day over the weekend.

Tuesday’s numbers show 11,067 total residents in Franklin County have been stricken with the virus.

The county had 245 new cases confirmed per 100,000 people over the two weeks ending March 2. There is a lag in the weeks reported because new positive test results are backdated to when the test sample was collected.

Benton County had 161 new cases confirmed per 100,000 over the same two-week period, bringing the county’s total case count to 14,807.

The health district is only reporting new deaths every Friday, so the number of Tri-Citians who have died from complications of COVID remain at 292. The most recent announcement was five deaths on March 5.

Meanwhile, the number of people hospitalized locally for treatment of the virus dropped by two to 15. They account for 4% of the 377 patients at the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

That is well within the Washington state Department of Health recommendation that less than 10% of all hospital patients should be COVID patients to ensure adequate hospital capacity.

Help for Tri-Cities seniors

The Richland Seniors Association has been able to make just over 200 COVID-19 vaccination appointments for seniors in the Tri-Cities area.

The all-volunteer group stepped up at the start of February to help seniors who had no internet access or lacked the computer skills to make appointments online.

“Our problem as seniors is that the system for getting the COVID-19 vaccine wasn’t designed with seniors in mind,” said Bob Koenig, director of the nonprofit association, when the program was announced.

The initial response to the offer of help was nearly overwhelming as more than 500 phone calls started to come in, but the program is running smoothly now.

To get help finding or registering for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment, call 800-595-4070 and leave a voicemail message with your name, phone number and what you are calling about.

A volunteer will pick up the message and call you back.

Koenig is urging people over 65 who still are looking for a vaccine to take action soon.

As of March 22, far more people may be eligible for the vaccine and it likely will become more difficult to get an appointment.

Gov. Jay Inslee has announced plans to allow workers over age 16 in settings such as grocery stores, law enforcement and agriculture to receive vaccines then if supplies are adequate.

People over age 16 who are pregnant or who have a disability that puts them at high risk also should be eligible then.

Those currently eligible are people 65 and older; certain people age 50 and older in multigenerational households; those who work with children in schools and child care centers; health care workers; emergency medical technicians; and residents and employees of long term care facilities for the elderly.

Vaccine for veterans

Veterans may be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine now, regardless of their age.

The Veterans Administration will be giving 500 doses of the vaccine from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 13, at the Walla Walla VA Medical Center main campus, 77 Wainwright Drive, Walla Walla.

To qualify for the vaccine clinic, veterans must be enrolled to receive care at VA clinics in Richland, Walla Walla, Yakima, Lewiston, La Grande, Enterprise or Boardman. They do not need to be 65 or older.

Appointments are required.

Call 509-525-5200 and then hit 2 and then 2 again, or ask for the call center.

The Moderna COVID vaccine will be available. Those receiving vaccines will be required to wear masks.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported 455 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and 22 deaths from the disease since Friday.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 345,731 cases and 5,063 deaths. Those numbers are up from 344,532 cases and 5,041 deaths Friday. The case total includes 19,800 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 Feb. 16, the date with the most recent complete data, 50 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.

Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,221), approximately 78% (956) were occupied by patients as of March 4. Of those staffed ICU beds, 8% (98) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients.

According to CDC, 2.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Washington.

As of Monday, more than 2.65 million doses had been delivered to the state.

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. Recently added were child care workers, along with educators and staff working pre-K through 12th grade.

On the national level, 116 million doses have been distributed and 92 million shots of the approved vaccines have been given, according to CDC statistics. The population of the United States is approximately 328 million.

On Feb. 15, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 15,471 specimens were collected statewide, with a downward-trending 3.6% testing positive.

The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was 3.8%. More than 5.3 million tests have been conducted in Washington.

Cases by county

According to DOH data, King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 85,282 cases and 1,425 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases. Spokane County has the second-highest number of deaths, at 576.

Following Pierce for number of cases are Spokane, Snohomish, Yakima, Clark, Benton and Franklin counties. If Benton and Franklin counties were considered together, they would rank sixth, after Yakima County.

All counties in Washington have cases. Only 12 of the state’s 39 counties have case counts of fewer than 1,000.

There have been more than 29 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 525,701 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.

More than 2.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 117 million.

Debbie Cockrell of The (Tacoma) News Tribune contributed to this report.

This story was originally published March 9, 2021 at 2:05 PM.