5 more COVID deaths in Tri-Cities area. And the latest on cases and vaccinations

Five more people have died in the Tri-Cities area of complications of COVID-19, the youngest a woman in her 40s.

They bring total deaths since the start of the pandemic in Benton and Franklin counties to 550.

The number of deaths has dropped in the last two weeks, following seven weeks of steadily declining numbers of new confirmed cases, according to Dr. Amy Person, health officer for Benton and Franklin counties, in a weekly update with the Benton Franklin Community Health Alliance.

It takes time for the number of deaths also to decline, both because of the reporting process and the length of time people may be ill.

Last week there were six deaths reported, bringing deaths so far this month to 11.

Deaths are reported by the Benton Franklin Health District once a week on Fridays.

November is on track to have far fewer deaths than the 80 in October and 64 in September, which did not include a summer backlog of another 22.

The recent deaths reported Friday by the Benton Franklin Health District included four residents of Benton County — three men in their 70s and a man in his 80s.

The woman in her 40s was the only death reported in the past week for Franklin County

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

About 25% of recent cases in the state of Washington have been in vaccinated people, according to the state Department of Health.

The vaccine continues to do a good job of preventing cases severe enough to require hospitalization or cause death, said said Heather Hill, infectious disease supervisor for the Tri-Cities based health district. She spoke on the Kadlec on Call podcast this week.

Local public health officials verify that deaths are due to COVID complications by checking for a positive test result and that a coronavirus infection was named as a primary cause of death on the death certificate.

It can take several weeks for the district to receive and reconcile death information due to the reporting processes of medical facilities and coroner offices and the process of issuing and releasing death certificates.

Breakthrough deaths

In all of Washington state, 8,857 deaths due to the coronavirus have been reported since the start of the pandemic. They include 90 deaths reported over the past week, down from 182 deaths the previous week.

Of the people who have died statewide, 676 were known to be vaccinated against COVID, according to the latest state Washington state Department of Health report issued Nov. 10 on vaccination breakthrough cases. They ranged in age from 35 to 103, with a median age of 79.

At least 250 of them were residents, or possibly staff, of long-term care facilities.

Information on deaths from breakthrough cases in the Tri-Cities is available only through September, when 16 fully vaccinated Tri-Cities area residents had died.

The other 194 deaths since January, when the vaccine became widely available, through September were in unvaccinated people.

No deaths due to the vaccine have been reported by medical officials in the Tri-Cities area.

Tri-Cities COVID cases

Although the COVID-19 new case rate for the Tri-Cities area is continuing to decline, the decline is starting to slow some, Hill said.

Over the past week, 296 new confirmed cases were reported in Benton and Franklin counties for an average of 42 new cases per day.

That is down from an average of 50 cases per day the previous week.

The new case rate in Franklin County has dropped to lower than Benton County.

In Benton County, 242 new cases per 100,000 people were reported over two weeks, compared to 218 new cases per 100,000 over two weeks in Franklin County.

Rates are down significantly from a case rate of 671 in Benton County and 774 in Franklin County a month ago.

Despite the dramatic drop, case rates remain higher than health officials would like.

Under previous regulations, Washington state had set a level of fewer than 200 new cases per 100,000 over two weeks to allow fewer regulations for businesses and gatherings.

COVID vaccinations

Starting Monday there will be new requirements to attend large events in Washington state, including outdoor events with 10,000 or more participants and indoor events with 1,000 or more participants.

The requirement applies to many types of events and venues, including conventions, concerts, sporting events, fairs and theme parks, Hill said.

People will need to show verification that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or a negative COVID-19 test within the last 24 hours to be admitted.

People can show the card they received when they were vaccinated, but public health officials recommend keeping the original safe and showing a copy or mobile phone photo of the card. They can also get their vaccine status to print out from MyIRmobile.com.

The vaccination rate in the Tri-Cities area continues to be low compared to the rest of the state, according to data from the Washington state Department of Health.

The rate is inching up slowly at about a half a percent a week, Hill said.

Statewide 61% of all residents are fully vaccinated and 71% of those ages 12 and older are fully vaccinated.

In Benton County, just under 50% of all people are fully vaccinated, with 60% of residents 12 and older fully vaccinated.

In Franklin County, 44% of residents are fully vaccinated, with 56% of people 12 and older fully vaccinated.

Children 5 and older have recently become eligible to be vaccinated, but the state is not yet regularly reporting statistics for the eligible population that includes that age group.

Tri-Cities hospitalizations

The past week ended with 49 people hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment in Benton and Franklin counties, according to the Tri-Cities based health district.

The count Friday was 10 more than at the end of October.

But hospital admissions declined by 22% from Wednesday to Wednesday, Hill said.

Short-term trends in admissions and hospital patient counts can vary due to the length of time many COVID patients need to be hospitalized.

The 49 patients hospitalized as of Friday accounted for 12% of all patients in the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals.

The percentage of people testing positive at public testing sites in the Tri-Cities is declining.

About 9% of recent test results have been positive at the drive-thru site at Columbia Basin College in Pasco down from about 12% reported two weeks ago.

This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 3:32 PM.