3 Washington counties rank among worst COVID-19 infection rates in U.S., data shows
FRANKLIN COUNTY, Wash. - Franklin, Benton and Whitman counties have among the worst COVID-19 infection rates in the U.S., according to national data compiled by the New York Times.
All three counties have a vaccination rate of 55% or lower.
Tri-City Herald reported Franklin County has the second-highest COVID rate in the country, averaging 515 cases per day, with a rate of 541 cases per 100,000 population. Given the county’s roughly 95,222 residents, these are comparatively large numbers.
Franklin County is only beaten out by Alaska’s Nome Census Area, a remote region just across the Bering Strait from Russia. This area, comparatively, has a case rate of 831 per 100,000 population—far and away the highest in the nation.
But, Washington’s representation in the top 10 does not end there; nationally, Whitman County, home of Pullman and Washington State University, is ranked fifth. Benton County, the other half of Tri-Cities, is ranked 10th.
Whitman has a case rate of 457 per 100,000 population, a sharp climb of 289% in the last two weeks. Benton County has a rate of 407 per 100,000 population.
For context, the Washington Department of Health considers a ‘relatively safe’ case rate between 0–10, and a mild case rate of 10–50. All Washington counties are currently above a case rate of 100 per 100,000 population, which denotes an extreme risk of transmission.
This data is compiled by the New York Times, but other counts, like the Brown University School of Public Health, peg Franklin County as having an even higher rate of COVID infections.
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