1-day jump in Tri-Cities new COVID cases reported. WA state cases also up

The number of new cases of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area jumped to 40 on Tuesday, the highest number in 12 days, according to data from the Benton Franklin Health District.

The new cases included 22 in Benton County and 18 in Franklin County, where the number of new cases has been slower to drop. Franklin County has about half as many people as Benton County.

The two counties have had an average of 32 cases so far this week — starting with the weekend — which is slightly above the average daily cases for the previous two weeks.

However, Franklin County did meet the new state standard to remain in Phase 3 of reopening, according to information reported on Tuesday.

For the first time since the new standard was announced, Franklin County had fewer than 200 cases per 100,000 people over two weeks, the case rate required to stay in Phase 3.

Because cases are backdated to when tests that came back positive were done, the case rate of 196 reported Tuesday was for the two weeks ending March 16.

Now Franklin County must maintain that case rate until eligibility to remain in Phase 3 is next checked by the state on April 12.

Benton County has a rate of 124 new cases per 100,000 for the two weeks ending March 16.

Benton and Franklin counties’ new case rate comes close to matching the Washington state rate, as the state rate has climbed, and is lower than the national rate, as calculated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over seven days.

The Tri-Cities area has had 72 cases per 100,000 over the past seven days, compared to the last statewide rate reported as of Monday by the CDC that had climbed to 70 cases. A week ago it was at 63 cases.

Thirteen states now have lower rates.

The national rate for the same period was 114 per 100,000. New Jersey had the highest rate in the United States at 313. Hawaii had the lowest at 35.

The new cases reported Tuesday by the Benton Franklin Health District bring total cases confirmed with positive test results since the start of the pandemic to 26,300, including 15,053 in Benton County and 11,247 in Franklin County.

The Tri-Cities area has had 306 deaths since the start of the pandemic, including 207 in Benton County and 99 in Franklin County.

Sixteen people were hospitalized locally for treatment of COVID-19 as of Monday, which was up two from Monday and up four from Friday.

The people being treated for COVID on Tuesday accounted for 4% of all patients in the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported 577 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and nine deaths since Friday.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 355,986 cases and 5,183 deaths. Those numbers are up from 355,409 cases Sunday and 5,174 deaths Friday. The case total includes 21,594 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 March 3, the date with the most recent complete data, 42 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.

Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were stable at 34 in early March.

Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,237) approximately 76.2% (943) were occupied by patients Sunday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 7.6% (94) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients

On March 3, the most recent date with confirmed testing data, 19,931 specimens were collected statewide, with 3% testing positive.

The percentage of positive results at the Columbia Basin College free testing site is running just over 8%, according to the Benton Franklin Health District.

The average positive test rate for the seven days prior was a stable 3.4%. More than 5.7 million tests have been conducted in Washington. The test numbers reflect only polymerase chain reaction tests, which are administered while the virus is presumably still active in the body.

Cases by county

According to DOH data, King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 88,021 cases and 1,451 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 41,089 and has the second-highest number of deaths, at 597, according to DOH..

All counties in Washington have at least 100 cases. Only 11 of the state’s 39 counties have case counts of fewer than 1,000.

There have been more than 29.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 542,882 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Monday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.

More than 2.72 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 123 million.

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

This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 2:04 PM.