‘A lot of infection.’ COVID level high in Tri-Cities. Thousands must wear masks

Fewer Washington state counties are rated as having “high” community levels of COVID-19 than the previous week, but Benton and Franklin counties remain on the list.

That means that masks are recommended in public places in the Tri-Cities, under CDC guidance.

And thousands of workers will be required to wear face masks indoors at work for the second week in a row.

The Tri-Cities area also was rated as “high” by the CDC last week.

Benton and Franklin counties are starting to see a sharper increase in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and the amount of the virus detected in untreated city wastewater, said Dr. Amy Person, health officer for the two counties, at a news briefing Friday.

In the coming week at the Hanford nuclear reservation, which employs about 11,000 people, masks are required indoors regardless of vaccination status, but with exceptions such as when an individual is alone in an office with the door shut.

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

At PNNL — which employs 5,350 people, the majority of them at its Richland campus — face coverings are required indoors, with some exceptions, when the CDC lists the case rate as “high.”

Employees who have not been vaccinated must provide a negative test result and physically distance.

Benton and Franklin are among 12 Washington counties that the CDC rates as having “high” community levels, down from 14 the previous week.

Walla Walla County was moved from the list of counties with “high” levels to the list of the 20 counties with “medium” levels.

Just seven counties, including Columbia and Whitman, home to Washington State University Pullman, have “low” levels.

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.

COVID variant in Tri-Cities

The increase of the coronavirus in the Tri-Cities likely is being fueled by the same BA.5 subvariant of the omicron variant, which has led to an increase in cases across Washington and the United States, she said.

The BA.5 subvariant is highly infectious.

“While our hospitals have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases, it does not mirror the amount of cases or disease activity in the community,” Dr. Person said.

Hospitals in Benton and Franklin counties are feeling the stress of large numbers of patients overall, she said.

In general the BA.5 variant has been linked to increases in infections but not hospitalizations or deaths, she said.

There were no new recent deaths due to complications of COVID-19 announced for the past week by the Benton Franklin Health District.

But there have been eight recent deaths due to complications of COVID-19 announced so far this month. Seven to nine deaths were reported each of the past three months.

Deaths this summer remain well below the number of monthly deaths announced earlier this year — 27 in March, 43 in February and 21 in January.

The total deaths from complications of COVID-19 in the Tri-Cities area since the start of the pandemic number 679. They include 466 residents of Benton County and 213 residents of Franklin County.

COVID vaccination boosters

“Vaccination continues to be our best way to prevent against serious illness, hospitalization or death,” Dr. Person said. “And that includes getting all boosters that you are eligible for.”

Anyone 5 and older can get a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine if enough time has passed since their initial booster.

For the Pfizer vaccine, which can be given to those 5 and older, that is at least five months after their second shot and for Moderna, which is available for those 18 and older, that is at least six months after their second shot.

Boosters for anyone 18 and older receiving a Johnson & Johnson vaccine can be given two months later.

Second booster shots are authorized for anyone age 50 and older; those ages 12 and older who are at least moderately immunocompromised; and those 18 and older who had the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for their primary and first booster dose.

Just 47.3% of Benton and Franklin county residents who are eligible for an initial booster shot have received one, according to Washington state Department of Health data. That compares to 57.6% statewide.

Tri-Cities COVID cases, hospitalizations

Now positive test results at the free drive-thru COVID-19 test site at Columbia Basin College off Argent Road in Pasco have increased to 40%, said Heather Hill, infectious disease supervisor for the Tri-Cities based health district, speaking this week on the Kadlec on Call podcast.

That’s up from 30% at the CBC site about a month ago and 26% at the walk-up free testing site that was previously open in Richland.

The amount of genetic material from the coronavirus in untreated wastewater collected in Kennewick, Pasco, Richland and West Richland is now greater than it was in the winter peak of the pandemic fueled by the original omicron variant.

“Wastewater is telling us is there is a lot of infection in our community,” Hill said.

The latest new case rate for Benton and Franklin counties combined is 181 new cases per 100,000 people over seven days. That’s up from 90 at the start of the month.

The case rate is known to be an undercount since many people now use home test kits for COVID-19, with results not reported to public health officials.

Hospitals in the Tri-Cities area have seen a slight decrease in people who are treated there specifically for a serious case of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, Hill said.

But the number of patients with COVID-19, who may be admitted for other reasons, has seen a slight increase at the Richland, Kennewick, Pasco and Prosser hospitals combined, she said.