Tri-Cities COVID rates among highest in WA state. What Gov. Inslee had to say about it

New COVID case rates in Benton and Franklin counties have declined significantly since the winter holidays, but they remain higher than Washington state as a whole.

That might be due to some living and working conditions in Eastern Washington, Gov. Jay Inslee said during a visit to the Tri-Cities on Tuesday.

Franklin County currently has the fourth highest rate of COVID cases per population of the 39 counties in the state and Benton county ranks 16th, according to data compiled by the Harvard Global Health Institute.

While Washington state has been averaging 9 new cases per day per 100,000 people recently, Franklin County has been averaging 20 cases a day per 100,000.

And Benton County has been averaging 11 cases each day per 100,000.

Inslee said having more people living closely together can increase transmission rates and some industries in Eastern Washington, such as food processing, also may put people at higher risk of COVID.

He lauded the success of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine program, including the mass vaccination site at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Kennewick.

“We are at a moment of great optimism about the vaccine,” he said.

Overall demand for the vaccine remains high and initial goals for vaccinating the vulnerable elderly are close to being met, Inslee said.

Statewide demand remains high because of their effectiveness at saving lives, he said.

However, demand for the vaccine at the Tri-Cities fairgrounds drive-thru clinic appears to be declining.

Weeks ago all open appointments would be filled within hours of them being posted online.

But this week about 1,400 open appointments for Wednesday through Saturday were unclaimed by late Tuesday afternoon.

“We are doing outreach to communities in 32 languages so that people can get the scientific information we have so they can be confident in getting the vaccine,” Inslee said.

The state is spending $15 million on outreach.

The state also is empowering community leaders, including in Black and Hispanic communities, to share information, he said.

Vaccine eligibility

As people learn about the effectiveness of the COVID vaccines, the number who want it will increase, he said. Numbers also will increase as people see their friends and co-workers getting the vaccine, Inslee said.

The number of new COVID-19 cases in the state is declining, but there is concern about new variants of the coronavirus that may be more contagious.

After he spoke Tuesday, the Benton Franklin Health District announced that the first case of the UK Variant detected in Eastern Washington had been found in Benton County.

The state of Washington is planning to expand eligibility for the vaccine on or near March 22 to more people, including people working in food processing, agriculture, grocery stores, jails and public transit.

Also included will be pregnant women and certain people with disabilities over the age of 16.

Inslee had said he would not expand eligibility until at least half of all state residents age 65 and older and people 50 and older in multigenerational households receive the vaccine.

That changed somewhat when President Joe Biden directed states to open eligibility this month to educators and child care workers. The change made more than 6,000 people in Benton and Franklin counties eligible for the vaccine now.

Washington is close to having half of those age 65 or in eligible multi-generational households vaccinated, and should reach that goal by March 22, Inslee said.

“We are still having really good demand for the vaccine for our elders and people in congregant housing,” he said. “We want to keep that rolling to get more of our elders vaccinated now.”

The state is balancing getting a high percentage of older at other higher risk people vaccinated, while still getting enough people to fill vaccination clinic openings, he said.

School reopenings

Inslee also briefly addressed whether there could be any changes to business reopening or school safety requirements at a short media briefing in Pasco before heading back to Olympia.

He toured Robert Frost Elementary School in Pasco and also was scheduled to visit the fairgrounds in Kennewick, but that stop was canceled late Tuesday morning.

He said he was inspired by the success of hybrid learning at Robert Frost and hearing from parents who were glad to have their children back in class and receiving a more interactive education experience.

“You have demonstrated you can do this safely here in Pasco,” he said. “We are confident that people who are solution-oriented can get together and do this essentially in every school across the state of Washington.”

The state is looking at emerging evidence that a full six feet of distance between students may not be needed to ensure safety.

“We are evaluating that science right now,” he said. “We have not made any final decision on this.”

Reducing the distance requirement, which limits the number of students that can be taught in each room, may be necessary for a full reopening, he said.

The entire state is now in Phase 2 of Inslee’s Roadmap to Recovery reopening plan during the COVID pandemic and waiting to hear the requirements for moving to Phase 3 of reopening.

There will be some changes in the metrics for reopening, he said, but offered no details.

This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 5:00 AM.