New COVID cases jump Wednesday in Tri-Cities ahead of state reopening decision

The Tri-Cities has 54 more confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the new case rate for Franklin County has crept higher, according to data from the Benton Franklin Health District on Wednesday.

However, the number of people hospitalized locally for COVID-19 dropped to just eight, down from 62 at the start of this year.

The 54 new cases reported on Wednesday bring the average daily cases for the week to date — starting with the weekend — to 29 per day.

That compares to an average of 37 new cases per day last week.

However, the new case rate over two weeks did climb in Franklin County to the highest point in the past 14 days on Wednesday.

On Monday, April 12, the Washington state Department of Health will assess whether each county in the state has a new case rate below 200 per 100,000 people over two weeks. Those that don’t meet that standard are expected to be dropped from Phase 3 of reopening to Phase 2 of reopening.

Franklin County’s most recent reported case rate is 190 new cases per 100,000 over two weeks, up from a case rate of 161 as recently as Friday.

Benton County was easily meeting the state standard, with 133 new cases per 100,000 over two weeks as of Wednesday.

The new COVID-19 cases reported Wednesday included 41 in Benton County and 13 in Franklin County.

The Tri-Cities area has had 26,798 cases of COVID confirmed by positive test results since the start of the pandemic, including 15,373 in Benton County and 11,425 in Franklin County.

The eight people hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment Wednesday accounted for just 2% of patients in the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

The Tri-Cities area has had 307 deaths attributed to complications of COVID-19, including 208 residents of Benton County and 99 residents of Franklin County.

COVID vaccine available

The increase in people vaccinated against COVID has helped reduce the number of severe illnesses, and plenty of vaccine is available this week in the Tri-Cities.

About 300 appointments remained open as of Wednesday for the days through Saturday at the Benton County Fairgrounds drive-thru vaccination clinic. There is no charge for the shot.

“If you are eligible now, avoid the rush and get scheduled for this week,” said Ben Shearer with the Southeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team.

Those currently eligible include anyone age 60 or older, people with at least two underlying health conditions and people who work in restaurants, construction and manufacturing.

On April 15, eligibility for the vaccine will be expanded to anyone 16 and older in Washington state.

Sign up for appointments through Saturday noon at prepmod.doh.wa.gov. Click on “Find a Clinic.” On the next page scroll down and check all pages for open appointments at the Benton County Fairgrounds listed separately for each day.

An appointment also may be made by calling the Washington state COVID-19 Assistance Hotline at 800-525-0127.

Appointments for the Tri-Cities fairgrounds mass vaccination clinic for next week could be posted as soon as Friday afternoon or possibly on Saturday or Sunday.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported 653 new cases of COVID-19 and 14 deaths Tuesday.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 370,652 cases and 5,299 deaths. Those numbers are up from 369,999 cases and 5,285 deaths Monday. The case total includes 24,232 infections listed as probable.

As of March 18, 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 slightly increasing at 37 in late-March.

According to DOH data, King County continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 92,570 cases and 1,475 deaths. Pierce County is second in cases, with 43,647, and for deaths at 616.

Only 11 of the state’s 39 counties have case counts of fewer than 1,000.

There have been more than 30.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 556,428 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest total number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.

More than 2.87 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 132 million.

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

This story was originally published April 7, 2021 at 1:46 PM.