Nearly 100 Benton inmates sick with COVID. 1 in 50 Tri-Citians testing positive

The Tri-Cities area has had a confirmed COVID-19 case in one of every 50 people in the last two weeks, according to data from the Benton Franklin Health District released Tuesday.

That is more than double the rate the health district reported a week earlier and a new record for the pandemic.

Public health officials say that is an undercount, as it does not include the results of many of the rapid home tests that people are using now.

Tri-Cities schools also are reporting high numbers of students and staff who are infected.

And Benton County jail has an outbreak with 45% of inmates either sick or exposed to the coronavirus.

The new overall case rate on Tuesday was 2,011 cases per 100,000 over the past two weeks in Benton and Franklin counties combined. That is up from a case rate of 807 a week earlier.

In Benton County on Tuesday, the new case rate was 1,871 new cases per 100,000 over two weeks. In Franklin County the case rate was higher at 2,310.

For perspective, in the spring Benton and Franklin counties were working to drop their case rates below 200 to avoid increased restrictions on businesses.

Hospital patients

The number of people hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19 in the two counties also was up on Tuesday, jumping to 77 patients on Tuesday.

Last week the highest COVID-19 patient count reported for the four Tri-Cities area hospitals was 55. January started with 31 patients.

Tri-Cities area COVID-19 hospital counts do not include people who are hospitalized for other conditions and then test positive for COVID-19.

The highly infectious omicron variant of the coronavirus is believed responsible for the explosion of cases since the start of the year.

Although many people have milder cases than were caused by the delta variant, particularly if they are fully vaccinated, the sheer number of new cases has resulted in more people being hospitalized.

On Tuesday, 19% of the 406 patients at the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals were admitted for treatment of COVID-19.

New case rates in the general population are highest in younger adults, with 3,162 per 100,000 who are ages 20 to 39 having cases of COVID-19 confirmed and reported to public health officials over the past two weeks.

Next highest were older teens, with a new case rate of 2,772 in those age 15-19.

Younger school children, ages 5 to 14, had a new case rate of 1,800 on Tuesday.

School COVID cases

Schools are reporting more students and staff out sick.

The Yakima School District switched from in-person learning to online learning all this week due to staff shortages, including bus drivers, food service workers and school nurses.

School administrators were expecting cases due to omicron to peak next week and then start to fall rapidly, allowing classes there to resume Tuesday, Jan. 25.

The surge in omicron cases has been slower to peak in Eastern Washington than in Western Washington, according to public health officials.

The Kennewick School district reported that 1,884 students reported positive COVID-19 test results since September, with 646 of those cases, or 34%, just from Jan. 10 to 14.

Staff have have 142 positive test results reported, with 68 of those, or 48%, in the past week.

Additional students and staff were absent because they had been exposed to the coronavirus and were quarantining, for a total of 1,809 students and staff absent due to a positive test result, symptoms or possible exposure to the coronavirus.

Kennewick High School was particularly hard hit with 205 staff and students out.

The Pasco School District reported for the same week that 480 students had positive COVID-19 test results reported, along with 85 staff.

That’s up from 293 student cases and 68 staff cases reported for the previous week.

The Richland School District reported 209 students and 30 employees had tested positive as of Tuesday.

Benton County jail

The Benton County jail medical staff is monitoring 97 inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19 out of a total of 420 inmates.

All appear to have mild symptoms, the Benton County Corrections Department said Tuesday afternoon.

In addition, 91 inmates have been exposed and are being quarantined.

The outbreak also has affected corrections officers, with 24 who have been out sick. Eighteen have returned to work and six are still recovering.

The outbreak spread through eight of the jail’s 20 housing units, but appears to be contained now, the corrections department said.

New inmates are quarantined for 10 days and then are tested before being moved to live with other inmates.

This is the first large outbreak in the jail, the corrections department said.