UPDATE: Which of the Tri-Cities is the worst at wearing masks in stores. Plus 624 new cases in a week

A recent count of people wearing masks in Benton and Franklin county grocery stores found 53% compliance, but shoppers in some towns were doing better than others.

Richland shoppers were doing the best, with 58% seen wearing masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Benton City came in last with just 26% compliance.

“Counties across the state where mask wearing is more accepted have lower rates of illness,” said Dr. Amy Person, health officer for Benton and Franklin counties.

For at least the larger of the counties’ cities, those that tended to have lower rates of COVID-19 cases per population also scored better on the survey of face covering compliance.

For example, Pasco had the highest infection rate of the Tri-Cities since the start of the pandemic and also had the lowest percentage of mask wearers in the Tri-Cities.

Benton Franklin Health District staff conducted the survey, spending 30 hours at 15 grocery stores from June 20-25.

They counted people walking out of stores who had a cloth face covering or other mask if they appeared to be age 12 or older.

Anyone with a mask was counted, even if they were not wearing it correctly to cover their mouth and nose.

Here’s how the cities ranked:

Richland

About 58.1% of Richland shoppers were wearing masks.

The city, which is smaller than Pasco and Kennewick, had just 31 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past week, for a total of 291.

That’s a rate of about five cases per 1,000 people since the start of the pandemic, based on the most recent population estimates.

Prosser

An estimated 57.8% of Prosser shoppers were wearing masks.

But it also has been hard hit by the coronavirus, possibly because of its large number of agricultural workers who are classified as essential and continue to work. It also is close to Yakima County, which has among the highest rates of COVID-19 per population in the western U.S.

Prosser had 29 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the past week for a total of 189.

That’s a rate of 30 per 1,000 people, the highest rate in Benton and Franklin counties, though rates are not known for some of the smallest towns.

West Richland

About 55.2% of West Richland shoppers were wearing masks.

It had just 11 new confirmed cases announced in the past week for a total of 74.

It’s infection rate is similar to Richland’s with just under five cases per 1,000 people.

Kennewick

About 52.5% of Kennewick shoppers were wearing masks.

The largest of the Tri-Cities had 171 new cases reported over the last week for a total of 943.

That’s a rate of 11 per 1,000 people, falling between Pasco and Richland’s rates.

Pasco

An estimated 50.7% of of Pasco shoppers were wearing masks.

The second largest city had 305 confirmed cases reported over the last week for a total of 1,330.

That’s a rate of nearly 18 cases per 1,000 people, the highest in the Tri-Cities.

Connell

About 33.7% of Connell shoppers were wearing masks.

It had 56 new cases reported over the last week, likely many of them inmates at the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center, for a total of 118.

Coyote Ridge has had 113 inmates infected, according to the Washington state Department of Corrections, although not all the cases may be included in Franklin County statistics yet.

Connell has a rate of 21 cases per 1,000 people, although that includes inmates who cannot spread the virus in the community.

Benton City

About 26% of Benton City shoppers were wearing masks.

The town had 10 more cases of COVID-19 confirmed last week for a total of 42 since the start of the pandemic.

That’s a rate of 12 cases per 1,000 people.

Other towns in Benton and Franklin counties — Eltopia, Mesa, Kahlotus, Plymouth and Paterson — had 18 or fewer cases.

Yakima comparison

Yakima County had a similar masking study conducted May 23-24, and found only 35% of residents wearing masks.

But when the survey was repeated 20 days later, 65% of people were wearing masks, a larger percentage than observed in Benton and Franklin counties.

Yakima County has one of the highest rates of COVID-19 per population in the Western states.

Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties are the only ones left in the state still in Phase 1 and two others are in Phase 1.5 All others have advanced as far as Phase 3.

More businesses can be open and larger gatherings are allowed the higher the phase.

State watching Tri-Cities

Pasco, Richland and Kennewick have far more confirmed COVID-19 cases being reported daily than the state wants to see, although other metrics also are considered, including capacity for testing for active cases of COVID-19 and hospital capacity.

State Department of Health officials said they were concerned that not enough people were wearing masks in the three counties shortly after they put the Benton and Franklin county applications for moving to Phase 2.

Benton and Franklin counties submitted revised applications proposing more steps they could take, including a series of surveys to show how well residents were doing at wearing masks in public places. Surveys are expected to continue to be done for several weeks.

The initial survey data was collected in the Tri-Cities before a statewide mandate requiring masks in public took effect on Friday, June 26.

While an order requiring masks in public in the Tri-Cities took effect June 8, exemptions included children younger than 12. The new state mandate covers anyone age 5 and older.

“Masks prevent droplets from infected people from transmitting to those nearby,” explained Dr. Person.

“People with COVID-19 are contagious for two days before they develop symptoms,” she said. “A large percentage are asymptomatic, meaning they are still contagious but never feel sick.”

Case update

The past week saw a jump of 624 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Tri-Cities and three more deaths from complications of the disease.

Part of the increase in known cases may be due to increased testing after drive-thru testing by the Washington National Guard started June 17 in Kennewick and Pasco.

Call 211 for an appointment or stop by the Toyota Center in Kennewick or HAPO Center in Pasco to see if there is an opening because of a no-show.

But cases were increasing already before drive-thru testing started and hospitalization rates also have been higher, indicating that the infection is continuing to spread in the Tri-Cities area.

Last week there were as many as 89 patients being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser, with that dropping to 68 on Friday.

The percent of licensed hospital beds being used by COVID-19 patients remains above state-set targets for reopening.

Over the last month, confirmed cases increased by 1,458 from the last report in May on May 29 to the most recent report on June 26. There were 17 deaths during that time, bringing the total as of Friday to 99 deaths in the two counties.

The most recent death was reported on Friday, a Benton County woman in her 60s with underlying health conditions that put her at risk of severe illness if exposed to the coronavirus.

The state wants to see fewer than 25 cases per 100,000 people over two weeks as it considers reopening.

The Benton Franklin Health District is reporting that for the last two week period for which data is complete, June 7-20, Benton County had 202 cases per 100,000 people. Franklin County had 475 cases per 100,000.

This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 4:05 PM.