Tri-Cities hospitals treating more patients for COVID. What experts say about masks

Four more deaths from COVID-19 were reported in the Tri-Cities in the past week, and hospitals are treating more patients for the disease.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control ranked the COVID-19 community levels for both Benton and Franklin counties as “high” for the third week in a row.

Only six other counties in Washington state, including Walla Walla, Adams and Grant counties were ranked as having “high levels.” Sixteen were rated as “medium” and 15 were as “low.”

The CDC rates counties based on the number of new COVID-19 cases, hospital beds used by patients with COVID and hospital admissions for people with the disease.

Dr. John Lynch, a UW Medicine infectious diseases physician in Seattle, says the BA.5 omicron variant’s apparent strength in evading previous immune protection is driving a summer surge in new COVID-19 cases in the state.

“We’re probably at a number (of total cases) less than what we saw in January, but something very sizable and probably one of the largest surges we’ve had of the whole pandemic,” Lynch said.

He recommends people get any booster for which they are eligible to combat the BA.5 variant of the coronavirus.

“I do not think that waiting for an omicron-specific booster or vaccine in the fall is necessary, he said. “We really know we’re in a surge right now with a highly transmissible variant.”

Public health officials in the Tri-Cities say COVID-19 vaccines, particularly boosters, remain effective in preventing serious illnesses and deaths.

COVID-19 masks needed?

Lynch recommends masks, even in some outdoor settings.

“I think what we’re learning is this most recent variant BA.5 is incredibly infectious and it will take advantage of folks when they’re very close to other people,” he said.

The CDC recommends that people wear face masks in counties with high COVID-19 community levels in public indoor settings.

For many workers in the Tri-Cities, not wearing a mask is not an option.

At both the Department of Energy’s Hanford site and also Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland workers are required to wear masks indoors when the CDC weekly rating is “high.”

Tours of the Hanford B Reactor, part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, have been canceled until the CDC rating drops.

Tri-Cities COVID cases, hospitalizations

The month of June started with a reported new COVID-19 case rate of 90 cases per 100,000 people over a week for Benton and Franklin counties combined. That climbed to 160 at the start of July.

The increase continued through the month to a new case rate of 268 to end the month, as reported Thursday by the Benton Franklin Health District.

It says new case rates are under counted due to the popularity of home COVID-19 cases, with results not reported to public health officials.

Other data confirms an increase in the coronavirus in the Tri-Cities this summer.

The amount of coronavirus found in untreated municipal wastewater in the Tri-Cities dropped below concentrations detected in the past two weeks, as reported by the Benton Franklin Health District Thursday.

But it was still close to the concentration found at the peak of the original omicron outbreak this past winter after four months of increasing levels.

Wastewater from Kennewick, Pasco, Richland and West Richland is tested weekly.

The number of people treated at Tri-Cities area hospitals for COVID-19 increased to 35 in seven days, the Benton Franklin Health District reported Thursday.

That is up from 27 reported at the start of July and 12 at the start of June.

Tri-Cities deaths

The four most recent deaths reported by the Benton Franklin Health District were all elderly residents of Benton and Franklin counties.

They included three women in their 80s and a man in his 90s.

The Benton Franklin Health District has been working with nursing homes and other facilities for the elderly to improve their rates of boosters for both staff and residents.

The Tri-Cities based health district announced 12 recent deaths in July.

That’s up from the seven to nine deaths reported each of the previous three months, with Tri-Cities area deaths reported once a week, usually on Thursdays.

The total deaths from complications of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area since the start of the pandemic number 705.

In the Tri-Cities, 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.

This story was originally published July 30, 2022 at 11:58 AM.