Nearly 30% of patients in 4 Tri-Cities area hospitals are suffering from COVID

The number of new daily cases of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities is dropping this week, but remains significantly higher than a month ago.

However, the number of COVID-19 patients being treated at hospitals in Benton and Franklin counties reached a new high this week.

On Wednesday, the Benton Franklin Health District reported 234 more confirmed cases of COVID-19.

They bring the average daily cases of the disease this week, starting with the weekend, to 192.

Cases this week are down from an average of 234 new cases per day on average the previous week and 203 the week before that. But a month ago new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were averaging 86 per day.

Cases have increased sharply overall this summer as the more infectious delta variant of the coronavirus has climbed to at least 90% of new cases.

Two week case rates reported Wednesday for the Tri-Cities area dropped slightly, but remain above the previous peak of the winter of 2020-’21. The peak case rate was 928 new cases per 100,000 residents of Benton and Franklin counties over two weeks.

The case rate reported Wednesday was 967 new cases per 100,000 over two weeks for both counties combined.

Benton County had a new case rate of 955, and Franklin County had a new case rate of 991.

As recently as May, Benton and Franklin counties were working to get their case rates below 200, a previous target set by Gov. Jay Inslee for reopening businesses during the pandemic. Businesses are currently open with limited restrictions.

COVID hospitalizations

The Benton Franklin Health District reported Wednesday that 109 people were hospitalized locally for treatment of COVID-19, up from 102 the day before.

The peak number for people hospitalized in Benton and Franklin counties for COVID-19 is 111, a number reported on Monday.

The previous peak for locally hospitalized COVID-19 patients before new cases began to climb dramatically this month was 74 in one day at the end of December.

The 111 COVID-19 patients reported on Monday accounted for 30% of the 370 people at the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

The 109 people hospitalized as of Wednesday accounted for 29% of the 379 patients in the four hospitals.

COVID vaccinations

The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 continues to climb at a pace of up to 1% a week in the Tri-Cities area, but remains well below the percentage of people in Washington state getting vaccinated.

Statewide 70% of people eligible to be vaccinated, those ages 12 and older, have at least one dose of the vaccine. Almost 64% of those eligible to be vaccinated are fully vaccinated.

In Benton County 57% of people eligible to be vaccinated have received at least one dose of vaccine, with the Pfizer and Moderna requiring two doses. Almost 50% of people eligible to be vaccinated are fully vaccinated.

In Franklin County, 51% of people eligible to be vaccinated have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 43% of those eligible are fully vaccinated.

Vaccination counts do not include some people who received shots through certain federal programs, such as the Veterans Administration.

This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 1:01 PM.