4 COVID deaths in Tri-Cities area. Eight outbreaks under investigation, 2 in schools

Four more people have died of complications of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area, the youngest in his 40s, the Benton Franklin Health District said on Friday.

They bring the total deaths reported so far this month to six.

The local health district reports COVID-19 deaths weekly and last month reported deaths averaged just over two a week for nine total in May, down from 12 in April.

The most recent deaths included a Benton County woman in her 60s and a man in his 70s. The other two deaths were Franklin County residents, a man in his 40s and a woman in her 70s.

Since the start of the pandemic, 333 Tri-Citians have died, including 221 Benton County residents and 112 Franklin County residents.

Those who died include 136 people who were 80 or older; 92 in their 70s; 64 in their 60s; 26 in their 50s; 11 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 vaccination

The percentage of the Tri-Cities area population vaccinated against COVID-19 continues to increase but not as fast as the statewide vaccination rate for eligible people.

Statewide 64% of people age 16 and older have received at least an initial dose of the COVID vaccine, up from 54% a week ago.

That compares with 51% of Benton County residents, up from 43% a week ago, and 43% of Franklin County residents, up from 36% a week ago.

The percent of people 16 and older who are fully vaccinated is 56% statewide, 44% in Benton County and 37% in Franklin County.

Gov. Jay Inslee has said he will reopen the state earlier than his planned date of June 30 if the state meets a goal of 70% of Washington residents ages 16 and older with at least an initial dose of the vaccine.

Two of the COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in the United States, the Pfizer vaccine and the Moderna vaccine, require two doses to be fully effective.

Although the Pfizer vaccine is available for those 12 and older, the state looks at percentages of vaccinated people 16 and older because they have been eligible for the vaccine longer.

Tri-Cities cases

The Benton Franklin Health District reported 180 new confirmed COVID-19 cases this week, starting with the weekend, for an average of 26 new cases per day.

Last week new cases averaged 28 per day, up from 23 the last two weeks of May.

Officials said the slight increase in cases “may be part of the expected increase due to Memorial Day holiday.”

On Friday the local health district reported just 21 new confirmed cases, including 16 in Benton County and five in Franklin County.

The Benton Franklin Health District reported eight COVID-19 outbreaks in its weekly update, including two in schools.

In addition there were four in businesses, with three investigation pending; one in a health care setting and one in a childcare setting.

The number of people hospitalized locally for treatment of COVID-19 dropped to 23 on Friday, from counts of 24 or 25 earlier in the week.

Counts were in the mid teens the last week of May.

The 23 COVID-19 cases on Friday accounted for 6% of the 386 people in the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

Community-wide cases have totaled 29,187 since the start of the pandemic, including 16,845 in Benton County and 12,342 in Franklin County.

This story was originally published June 11, 2021 at 2:49 PM.