2 more COVID deaths reported in Tri-Cities. Here’s who’s still getting sick

Two more people in the Tri-Cities area died from complications of COVID-19, the Benton Franklin Health District reported on Friday.

The most recent deaths were two Franklin County residents. One was a man in his 60s and the other was a man in his 90s.

In the first three weeks of May, the local health district has announced six recent deaths from COVID. It reports deaths on Fridays.

In April, the local health district reported 12 deaths from the disease, down from 18 in March and 22 in February, as more people are vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The latest deaths bring the total since the start of the pandemic to 324, including 217 Benton County residents and 107 Franklin County residents.

The deaths include 135 people 80 or older; 89 in their 70s; 61 in their 60s; 26 in their 50s; nine 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.

Tri-Cities cases

The Tri-Cities had 32 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, the Benton Franklin Health District reported on Friday.

That brings the average number of known cases per day this week to 28, continuing a downward trend.

It is down from an average of 30 case each day last week and 39 the week before that.

The number of people hospitalized locally for treatment of COVID-19 also appears to be declining.

A week ago local patients spiked to 29 and then dropped to 20 as of Friday, the same number as two weeks ago.

The 20 COVID patients this Friday accounted for 5.2% of all patients in the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

The 32 new cases reported included 21 Benton County residents and 11 residents of Franklin County.

They bring total cases confirmed with positive test results since the start of the pandemic to 28, 646, including 16,481 in Benton County and 12,165 in Franklin County.

Cases by age, ethnicity

For the cases in which ethnicity or race has been reported, the Tri-Cities totals include 9,562 cases in Hispanics, 6,816 in non-Hispanic whites, 240 in Asians and 197 in Blacks.

Case rates continue to be highest among young people ages 15 to 19.

The Benton Franklin Health District reports that over the most recent two weeks with complete data, the two counties combined have had 152 new cases per 100,000 people.

But new case rates vary widely by age.

For those ages 15 to 19 years old the new case rate per 100,000 people is 299.

Next highest is working age adults. People ages 20 to 39 have a case rate of 197, followed by people ages 40 to 59 with a case rate of 163.

Case rates are much lower for older people, with a case rate of 55 for those 80 and older and 71 for ages 60 to 79.

The lowest case rate is 32 for those under 5. Ages 5-14 have a case rate of 160.

People ages 60 and older are most likely to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, according to local public health officials.

Vaccinated people in their 60s and older are 10 times less likely to be hospitalized if they develop the disease, according to information from the Washington state Department of Health.

The Benton Franklin Health District reports eight active COVID outbreaks in its weekly report, with 10 more pending investigation.

The include five outbreaks and six pending investigations in businesses; one outbreak and one pending investigation in long-term care facilities for the elderly; one outbreak and one pending investigation in a healthcare setting; and one outbreak and two pending investigations in schools.

Outbreaks are declared when cases spread within facilities and do not include quarantines because people may have been infected.

COVID vaccinations

With the Benton County Fairgrounds drive-thru vaccination site set to close after Friday, May 28, the Benton Franklin Health District is making plans for recurring pop-up clinics in Pasco, Richland, Kennewick and West Richland, it said in its weekly report.

It also is planning to have information on the vaccine available at the east Pasco flea market on Sunday, May 23, and vaccination clinics at the market in June.

Local public health officials also are working with doctors and other medical providers who routinely provide childhood vaccines to make sure they are prepared to also provide the COVID-19 vaccine to both children and parents.

The Kennewick fairgrounds clinic has given more than 80,000 doses of the vaccine.

This story was originally published May 21, 2021 at 3:34 PM.