New COVID cases, hospitalized patients and positive test results all higher in Tri-Cities

The Tri-Cities has 70 more confirmed cases of COVID-19, as the gradual increase in new cases over the last two weeks continues.

“We are now seeing disease increase that the rest of the state had actually already started to see at the end of the March,” said Dr. Person, health officer for Benton and Franklin counties, at this week’s Benton Franklin Health District Board meeting.

Washington state, which until recently had one of the lowest new case rates in the nation, now ranks 22nd in case rates.

“This is concerning as we are approaching the time of the next evaluation for metrics because we do want to remain in Phase 3,” Dr. Person said.

The Washington state Department of Health wants to see a new case rate of fewer than 200 new cases per 100,000 people when it next evaluates counties on May 3.

If Benton or Franklin counties have a case rate that is too high and also too many hospital admissions for COVID-19 over a week, they could be pushed back to Phase 2 of reopening.

On Thursday the local health district reported that Franklin County’s new case rate had climbed to 236 per 100,000 people over two weeks, a higher rate than has been calculated in more than a month.

Benton County’s new case rate was 182 per 100,000 people over two weeks, matching rates not seen since the first few days of March.

The percentage of positive test results at the drive-thru testing site at Columbia Basin College in Pasco also appears to be climbing.

The percentage had plateaued at about 9%, but in recent days has increased to just over 11%, said Heather Hill, infectious disease supervisor for the Benton Franklin Health District, speaking on the Kadlec on Call podcast recorded Wednesday evening.

However, public health officials will want to see more days of test results before concluding the increase is a trend.

The percentage of positive tests in the Tri-Cities has typically been significantly higher than for the state. Statewide the latest positive test rate calculated was steady at 4.6%.

The new COVID cases on Thursday bring the average daily cases for the week so far — starting with the weekend — to 52.

That exceeds the average 48 Tri-Cities area cases per day reported last week, and 34 new cases per day reported the week before.

COVID hospitalization, deaths

The Benton Franklin Health District reported 20 people hospitalized locally for treatment of COVID-19 as of Thursday.

It is the first time the number has been higher than the teens since April 1.

The 20 patients accounted for 5.1% of the 389 patients at the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

The new community-wide cases reported Thursday included 45 in Benton County and 25 in Franklin County, which has about half as many people.

They bring total cases confirmed with positive test results since the start of the pandemic to 27,536.

They include 15,805 cases in Benton County and 11,731 in Franklin County.

There have been 310 local deaths from complications of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, including 210 Benton County residents and 100 Franklin County residents.

Recent deaths are reported once a week, on Fridays.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health reported 1,500 new COVID-19 cases and 15 deaths Wednesday.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 390,214 and 5,422 deaths. Those numbers are up from 388,714 cases and 5,407 deaths Tuesday. The case total includes 27,938 infections listed as probable.

Washington’s population is estimated at about 7.6 million, according to U.S. Census figures from July 2019.

As of April 9, the date with the most recent complete data, 51 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.

Preliminary reports indicate average daily hospital admissions were increasing at 53 in mid-April, numbers not seen since early February.

Out of the state’s total staffed intensive care unit beds (1,269) approximately 79.9% (1,014) were occupied by patients Tuesday. Of those staffed ICU beds, 12.5% (158) held suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients, down from Monday.

According to DOH data, King County, with the state’s highest population, continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 98,159 cases and 1,503 deaths. Pierce County, second in population, is second in cases, with 46,866 and has the second-highest number of deaths, at 636.

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 31.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 569,361 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest total number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.

More than 3.05 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 143 million.

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

This story was originally published April 22, 2021 at 2:00 PM.