COVID cases in Tri-Cities kids rising sharply. But are schools to blame?

The number of school age children in Benton and Franklin counties who have contracted COVID-19 has risen sharply in recent weeks.

Since the beginning of the month, 29% of all new positive COVID cases have been in children ages 5 to 19, said Dr. Amy Person, health officer for the Benton Franklin Health District during a Thursday news briefing.

Since Sept. 1, about 410 children from newborn to 9 have tested positive, as have about 630 from 10 to 19 years old, according to data from the health district.

“Despite this very large increase, we have not seen significant outbreaks in schools,” Person said.

She said that the majority of cases in school-age children have been tracked back to sports events, social gatherings or to other family members.

“Case rates do appear to be plateauing. We are no longer are seeing that week after week unfettered rise,” said Dr. Person.

Cases plateauing

Despite 352 new COVID-19 cases reported for a single day on Thursday in Benton and Franklin counties, the rapid surge in Tri-Cities appears to be leveling off when averaged out this week.

On Wednesday, 92 cases were reported. The health district said that there was an interruption in the Washington Disease Reporting System and Wednesday’s reported results were not complete.

A health official did not have immediate information whether the numbers reported on Thursday reflected the gap in the reporting system the previous day.

Between Tuesday and Thursday, and average of 242 cases were reported each day.

Cases in the group with the highest number of cases — in the 20 to 25 range — are starting to dip slightly.

Hospitalizations

Even though overall rates in the Mid-Columbia may be starting to taper, health workers remain concerned about hospitalizations and the toll it is taking on staff and resources in the area.

“We are evaluating capacity and beds hour to hour,” said Joanie White-Wagoner, CEO of Lourdes Health in Pasco during the news conference.

She said that all beds at Lourdes are full and people are boarding in emergency rooms waiting to be able to transfer to a higher level of care. Any non-essential surgeries that require a bed are being limited.

She said that for now, the hospital has the staff and resources to adequately manage the number of patients in their care, but wants to advance to where administration doesn’t need to be evaluating bed space multiple times a day.

“People absolutely must get the vaccination,” White-Wagoner said. “We all have that role to play to keep our community safe.”

Vaccinations

Between Benton and Franklin counties, 44 percent of all people have been fully vaccinated.

Across the state, 69 percent of those 12 and older have been fully vaccinated and 76 percent have received at least one vaccination, according to the Washington Department of Health.

Person noted that Alaska and Idaho both have entered crisis care standards — protocols that prioritize patient care — or even deny it — based on multiple factors including likelihood of survival.

She emphasized that people need to continue to get a vaccination, wear masks and avoid big gatherings and to make these efforts to not tax the health care system.

“The goal is not to eliminate COVID-19 — that’s not practical nor necessary,” Person said. It’s to keep disease rates down, continue to function safely and get to where we don’t have to make hour-to-hour and day-to-day decisions — not just for COVID but for anyone who requires surgery or treatment.”

“We need to continue to look out for one another — take steps to ensure we don’t take COVID into the workplace, into homes or into schools.”

This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 10:31 AM.