Here’s the latest on COVID and monkeypox in the Tri-Cities area. CDC rating worsens

The Tri-Cities area has another case of monkeypox and has lost some ground on COVID-19 over the last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC rated the area as having a higher community level of COVID than a week ago, but not high enough that masks again will be required at federal projects such as the Hanford nuclear reservation site and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

A Washington state health leader said on Thursday she was cautiously optimistic about the status of COVID-19 in the state.

August had fewer COVID-19 confirmed cases, hospitalization and deaths than July in Washington, said Lacy Fehrenbach, the Department of Health deputy secretary for prevention, safety and health.

But levels remain high, she said.

In Benton and Franklin counties, the new case rate of COVID-19 calculated from positive results from testing sites was close to what it was just over a month ago according to data from the Benton Franklin Health District.

On Thursday the Tri-Cities based health district reported a new case rate of 161 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over seven days for Benton and Franklin counties combine. That was a drop from the recent high of 256 on Aug. 9, but above new case rate of 108 at the start if the summer.

The concentration of coronavirus in untreated municipal wastewater in the Tri-Cities has dropped but is not far below the concentration detected near the winter peak of the original omicron variant.

CDC Tri-Cities rating

The CDC gave both Benton and Franklin community COVID ratings of “medium” in its weekly report Thursday evening, which is worse than the “low” rating it gave both counties a week earlier.

Nine of the 39 counties in Washington state are rated as “medium” by the CDC and one, Garfield County, is rated as “high.”

When the CDC community rating is “medium,” the federal agency recommends that people at high risk for disease discuss with their doctor wearing a mask and other precautions. People in contact with those at high risk also should consider wearing a mask indoors.

The CDC bases its COVID-19 community level ratings not only on new case rates, but also hospital beds used by patients with COVID and hospital admissions for people with the disease.

Hospitals, new vaccine

The hospitals in Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser are admitting about twice as many people for COVID-19 treatment in a week now than they were at the start of June.

But Tri-Cities area hospitals are doing well and are not overburdened, said Heather Hill, infectious disease supervisor for the Benton Franklin Health District, speaking this week on the Kadlec on Call podcast.

Public health officials remain concerned about COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes that care for some of the area’s most vulnerable residents. Most deaths from the disease reported in the last two months have been in people their 70s and older.

The health district continues to work with long-term care homes to encourage employee vaccination and that staff stay home when sick. It’s also important that visitors make sure not to bring infections into the facilities, Hill said.

In the week after Labor Day an initial supply of the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine should be shipped to the state of Washington, as Food and Drug Administration authorization of the vaccine appears imminent.

In addition to the standard COVID-19 vaccine, the new vaccine booster includes protection against the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariant, which is the type causing most illnesses now.

State officials say that demand for the initial supply may exceed the initial shipment and that those at lower risk of serious illness may need to be patient and let those at highest risk get the first booster shots.

Tri-Cities COVID deaths

The Benton Franklin Health District reported one recent death this past week, bringing deaths reported in August to 11.

Deaths are reported once a week, usually on Thursdays.

August deaths were in line with 12 deaths announced in July — two thirds of them in people in their 80s and 90s. In August, 73% of deaths were people in their 80s and 90s.

The most recent death was a Benton County woman in her 80s.

COVID-19 deaths in the area since the start of the pandemic now total 716, including 499 Benton County residents and 217 Franklin County residents.

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 health 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.

Tri-Cities monkeypox

Benton County has a second probable case of monkeypox after the first case in Eastern Washington was identified in the Tri-Cities area in July.

Now in Eastern Washington six cases in Spokane County, five cases in Yakima County and one case in Walla Walla County have been reported in addition to the two cases in Benton County, according to Department of Health data.

In Washington state 411 monkeypox cases have been reported, including two in people under the age of 17. Twelve people in the state have been hospitalized for monkeypox treatment, but no one has died, said Dr. Umair Shah, Washington state secretary of health, during a Thursday news briefing.

Such a high number of cases of disease in a new outbreak is disturbing, said Dr. Scott Lindquist, the state epidemiologist of communicable disease.

“This can be a very, very painful disease,” he said. “It can be embarrassing. It can be stigmatizing, and I think we as the public need to do a good job of having some compassion for all of those who have had monkeypox.”

Most initial cases have been in gay men but it is a “maturing outbreak” and cases are starting to move into other populations, including women and people under 18, Lindquist said.

Monkeypox is spread mostly through skin to skin contact but can also be spread by sharing bedding or towels contaminated with fluid or scabs from rash blisters.

There is medication available that lessens symptoms, Hill said.

Limited supplies of a vaccine also are available to those at high risk of contracting monkeypox and for those who are have been exposed that can prevent illness or lessen its severity.