New COVID cases in Tri-Cities area tick up. June celebrations blamed
The Tri-Cities area is averaging 27 new confirmed COVID-19 cases a day so far this week, with 108 new cases reported since Friday by the Benton Franklin Health District.
That’s up from an average of 23 new cases per day the past week and 26 per day the week before.
Public health officials have attributed the modest increase to Memorial Day and end of school and graduation celebrations.
The number of people hospitalized for COVID treatment also is up.
Benton County has had a higher new case rate than Franklin County, as reported over the past week, reversing a trend that has mostly held since the end of fall.
The new case rate reported on Tuesday for Benton County was 125 new cases per 100,000 people over two weeks, compared to 119 for Franklin County.
The Benton Franklin Health District on Tuesday reported 24 people hospitalized locally for COVID-19 treatment, after the hospitalized patient count dropped into the high teens late last week.
The last week of May patient counts also were in the teens.
The 24 hospitalized COVID patients as of Tuesday accounted for 6.2% of the 384 patients in the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.
COVID-19 cases continue to be reported in staff or residents of long-term care homes for the elderly in the Tri-Cities area.
Four cases were reported this month, although it is not publicly known if they were workers or residents.
According to the state’s June 16 report of Washington residents who were vaccinated and still were infected with COVID-19, some 36 vaccinated people are known to have died of COVID-related illnesses.
At least 20 of those people were associated with a long-term care facility. Data on whether people lived in nursing or other long-term care homes was not available on all 36 of the cases.
COVID vaccination rates
Washington state has reached 67.8% of residents ages 16 and older with at least an initial shot of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Gov. Jay Inslee has said that if that percentage reaches 70% before June 30, he will move up the planned reopening of the state. Even if that percentage is not reached, the state still is expected to reopen, with a few exceptions, on June 30.
In Benton and Franklin counties, the percentage of vaccinated people is slowly rising, but remains lower than the state.
In Benton County 52% of people age 16 or older have received at least one dose of vaccine, with Pfizer and Moderna vaccines requiring two doses weeks apart to be fully effective.
In Franklin County the rate is 45%.
The data for Benton and Franklin counties do not include some people vaccinated through federal programs, including the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration.
The comparable percentage for the state, not including some vaccines administered in federal program, is about 66%.
Pop-up vaccination
Pop-up COVID-19 vaccine clinics are planned this week in Richland, Kennewick and Pasco, including at Columbia Center mall, with free vaccinations for anyone 12 or older.
No appointment is required and immigration status is not checked.
The Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available at these clinics:
▪ Eastlake Tri-Cities Church, 1300 Jadwin Ave., Richland, 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday.
▪ Columbia Basin College campus,, 2600 N. 20th Ave., Pasco, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday.
▪ Columbia Center mall, 1321 N. Columbia Center Blvd., Kennewick, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.
▪ Tierra Vida, 3209 E. A St., Pasco, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.
In addition, the COVID drive-thru testing site at Columbia Basin College, 3110 W. Argent Road, Pasco, is open for free vaccinations Fridays through Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Visa gift cards worth $50 are being given out to those who get vaccinated this month at the CBC site, while supplies last.
Washington state
The Washington state Department of Health reported 1,042 new COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths Monday.
Statewide totals from the illness caused by the coronavirus are 447,724 and 5,838 deaths. Those numbers are up from 446,682 cases and 5,820 deaths as of Friday. The case total includes 36,182 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 June 10, the date with the most recent complete data, 25 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were admitted to Washington state hospitals.
For the past seven days, Washington has had a rate of 35.9 new cases per 100,000 people.
The national rate for the same period was 21.8 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to DOH data, King County, with the state’s highest population, continues to have the highest numbers in Washington, with 111,679 cases and 1,614 deaths.
Pierce County, second in population, is second in cases, with 56,576. Spokane County has the second most deaths with 672.
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 33.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 602,047 deaths from the virus in the United States as of Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest total number of reported cases and deaths of any nation.
More than 3.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide. Global cases exceed 178 million.
Abby Miller with The (Tacoma) News Tribune contributed to this report.
This story was originally published June 22, 2021 at 12:49 PM.