Franklin County has 2nd highest COVID rate in 3 states. Benton County is 5th
Benton, Franklin and Walla Walla counties are leading the state of Washington and most of Idaho and Oregon in recent new cases of COVID-19, according to data from the Brown University School of Public Health.
Walla Walla County has the highest rate in the three states, with 28.5 new cases per day per 100,000 people over seven days, the university reported Tuesday using data from the Harvard Global Health Institute and other partners.
The university characterized Walla Walla County’s COVID level at being at the “tipping point” and Benton and Franklin counties as having “accelerated spread.”
Franklin County had a rate of 23.1 cases and Benton County had a rate of 20.9 cases.
The local rates may have been influenced by some delayed testing for COVID-19 as the Tri-Cities drive-thru free testing center was closed for two days the July 4 weekend and also has closed early some days because of extreme heat.
Just two other counties in Idaho and Oregon had higher case rates reported than Benton County, giving Benton County the fifth highest rate in the three states.
Walla Walla ranked first among all three states and Franklin County ranked second.
Umatilla County, just south of Benton County, in Oregon had a case rate of 22.9 daily new cases per 100,000 over seven days, putting it third for the three states.
In northern Idaho, Shoshone County had a daily case rate of 21.1, ranking it fourth.
By comparison, Washington’s most populous county, King County, had a case rate of 5.1.
Spokane County had a rate of 6.2 and Yakima County had a rate of 12.6, according to the university.
Washington’s San Juan County had no new cases over seven days and several rural counties in Oregon and Idaho also reported no new cases.
COVID vaccinations
San Juan and King counties lead the state of Washington in vaccination rates, with 76% of people 12 and older in San Juan County fully vaccinated and 72% of people in King County fully vaccinated.
But COVID-19 vaccination rates may not tell the full story.
Walla Walla ranks 15th among the state’s 39 counties for its percent of people 12 and older who are fully vaccinated.
Benton County ranks 26th and Franklin County ranks 31st.
In Walla Walla County to 52% of people old enough to be vaccinated are fully vaccinated. That drops to 46% in Benton County and 39% in Franklin County.
Garfield County has the lowest rate in the state at 28% and most of the counties with lower vaccination rates are rural. Whitman County, home to Washington State University Pullman, is an exception with a vaccination rate of 37%.