5 new Tri-Cities COVID deaths. Three victims were in their 60s

Five more Tri-Cities area people have died from complications of COVID-19 as Washington state is in the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

And data to be analyzed by the state early next week to determine whether Benton and Franklin counties could face further restrictions on reopening continues to worsen.

To date, 12 people in the Tri-Cities died from the virus in April.

That’s down from 18 deaths in March and 22 in February, as more people are vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Vaccination rates are highest in people 60 and older who are at highest risk of dying from COVID.

The most recent deaths included one woman, a Benton County resident in her 60s.

In addition, two Benton County men in their 80s and two Franklin County men in their 60s died.

The recent deaths bring the total number of Tri-Cities area residents who have died to 318, including 214 in Benton County and 104 in Franklin County.

They include 131 people 80 or older; 88 in their 70s; 62 in their 60s; 26 in their 50s; eight in their 40s; one each in their 30s and 20s; and two people younger than 20.

Local public health officials verify that the deaths are due to COVID complications by checking for a positive test result and that a coronavirus infection was named as a primary cause of death on the death certificate.

The health district is no longer reporting whether those who died had underlying health conditions because a new privacy law covering death certificates took effect in 2021.

Reopening case rates

New COVID-19 case rates continued climbing for Benton and Franklin counties.

They hit their highest rate since February, according to data released Friday from the Benton Franklin Health District.

The state’s decision on any change in reopening phases has been delayed until Tuesday and additional data that becomes available over the weekend will be considered.

Dr. Amy Person, health officer for Benton and Franklin counties, warned Thursday that both Tri-Cities counties are at risk of increased restrictions.

Now in Phase 3 of reopening, they could be returned to Phase 2. And that means indoor occupancy at restaurants, retail stores, gyms and worship services could be restricted by half, from 50% to 25%

The Washington state Department of Health has set limits for the rate of new COVID cases over two weeks and the rate of new COVID hospital patients over one week, with counties having to meet just one of those metrics.

The limit for new cases is fewer than 200 per 100,000 people over two weeks.

The two-week new case rate for Benton County was 213 cases per 100,000.

The new rate in Franklin County for the same period was 311 cases per 100,000.

The number of people hospitalized for treatment of COVID in Benton and Franklin counties also has increased this week, although the Benton Franklin Health District does not routinely report data for new admissions.

The COVID hospitalization standard to remain in Phase 3 of reopening is fewer than about 10 new COVID hospitalizations in a week for Benton County and fewer than about five for Franklin County.

The total hospitalized locally for COVID-19 treatment on Friday increased to 26, the highest number since February.

The 26 people being treated as of Friday accounted for 6.6% of the 391 people in the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

Tri-Cities COVID cases

The Tri-Cities has 53 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the Benton Franklin Health District said Friday.

It brings the average number of cases per day this week, starting with the weekend, to 52.

That is just below the average of 54 new cases per day last week, but still above new case numbers for the two weeks before that.

The new cases reported Friday included 29 in Benton County and 24 in Franklin County, which has about half as many people.

They bring total Tri-Cities area cases confirmed with positive test results since the start of the pandemic to 27,961.

They include 16,051 cases in Benton County and 11,910 in Franklin County.

Washington state

The Washington state Department of Health on Thursday reported 1,720 new COVID-19 cases. The department also reported 13 new deaths associated with the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 401,718 cases and 5,487 deaths. Those numbers are up from 400,139 cases and 5,474 deaths as of Wednesday. The case total includes 29,456 infections 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.

Debbie Cockrell with The (Tacoma) News Tribune and Sara Gentzler with The Olympian contributed to this report.

This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 2:14 PM.