With Tri-Cities COVID cases declining, what will it take to reduce restrictions?

It is too soon to ease restrictions intended to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in schools and businesses, but conversations on that are continuing, said Dr. Amy Person, health officer for Benton and Franklin counties.

The number of new cases and people hospitalized for COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area have decreased in recent weeks.

But at the start of the summer the Tri-Cities saw similar declines, raising hopes that the worst of the pandemic was over, she said at a news briefing Thursday.

But then with the rise of the delta variant, new cases rebounded and the number of people hospitalized for COVID in Benton and Franklin counties climbed to the highest of the pandemic.

“That reminds us that while things are improving we are not yet at the stage where we can say COVID-19 is not a problem in our communities,” she said.

But if more people are vaccinated and COVID new cases and hospitalizations continue to decline, “I am confident we will be able to make steady progress to make steady progress toward returning to that more normal way of life,” she said.

She was not as optimistic about COVID-19 deaths, saying she expects to see significant numbers of the deaths continue to be reported in the upcoming weeks.

Reported deaths lag new hospitalizations and diagnoses of new cases.

The number of deaths due to COVID in Benton and Franklin counties is close to 500 at 495 as of last Friday, she said. Recent deaths are reported in the Tri-Cities area once a week.

Last year there were 255 deaths reported, with the first one in March.

This year there have already been 240 deaths reported, she said.

The overwhelming majority of deaths this year have been in unvaccinated people, with just 7% of deaths in vaccinated people, she said.

No death due to the vaccine has been confirmed, she said.

Vaccinations increasing

The vaccination rate for all residents of Benton County increased by 1% over the last week in Benton County and by 1.2% in Franklin County.

In Benton County, nearly 48% of all people are fully vaccinated and 57% of people eligible to be vaccinated — those 12 and older — are vaccinated.

In Franklin County, rates drop to 42% of all people fully vaccinated and 53% of those eligible fully vaccinated.

In all of Washington state, 59% of residents are fully vaccinated and 69% of those eligible for vaccination.

The percentages do not include some people who received the vaccine through certain programs, such as the Veterans Administration.

Tri-Cities cases, hospitalizations

The Benton Franklin Health District has reported 664 new cases so far this week, starting with the weekend.

New cases are averaging 111 per day this week, down from an average of 127 new COVID-19 cases per day last week and 175 the week before.

The new case rate in school-age children has declined, with the highest new case rates now in people ages 20 to 39, Dr. Person said.

Hospital admissions for COVID-19 treatment are down 4% in the last seven days from the previous week.

“As we decrease transmission in our community, we see that reflected in decrease utilization and stress in our health care system,” Dr. Person said.

On Thursday 60 patients were being treated for COVID-19 at hospitals in Benton and Franklin counties, down from 66 the day before.

The COVID patients accounted for about 15% of all patients in the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

Less COVID testing

With the decline in the number of new cases, the number of people seeking testing for the disease also is down.

The free community testing sites in Pasco and Richland still have administered more than 10,000 tests combined over the last two weeks.

The more popular Pasco site is doing about 100 fewer tests per day, Dr. Person said. The percentage of positive test results is at 15%, a recent decline of about 1%.

The free walk-up COVID-19 testing site in Richland has moved to 975 George Washington Way near the police station.

Testing is available there 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays, closed Fridays and Saturdays.

The free drive-thru COVID-19 testing site in Pasco continues to be open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fridays through Tuesdays, closed Wednesdays and Thursdays. It is on the west end of the Columbia Basin College campus at 3110 W. Argent Road.

Registration in advance is not required for either site, but is available at covid19.bfhd.wa.gov/testing-sites.

This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 12:33 PM.