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More Records as Oklahoma Tops 1,000 Daily Cases for the 1st Time, Sets New Hospitalization High

NIAID-RML

Updated July 16, 12:30 p.m. to correct current hospitalizations.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Wednesday 1,075 new cases of COVID-19, the first time more than 1,000 cases were reported in one day and a new single-day record for the state for the second day in a row.

There were 993 cases reported Tuesday. Oklahoma now has a total of 22,813 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Tulsa County had 178 of Wednesday's new cases, bringing its state-leading total to 5,626. Oklahoma County is just 35 cases behind.

Four deaths were reported Wednesday. All were adults 65 or older, with one in Tulsa County. The state health department said none happened in the past 24 hours.

COVID-19 has officially killed 432 Oklahomans. Tulsa County has 79 deaths, most in the state.

The state's seven-day average of new cases, a measure of the trend in new infections, hit another new high Wednesday at 703, up from 645 the day before.

Statewide, hospitalizations were up to 638 as of Wednesday evening, 77 more than at the end of Tuesday. The state's previous record for hospitalizations was 562 on March 31. The number of people in the hospital has steadily increased since June 1, the day Oklahoma moved to phase three of Gov. Kevin Stitt's reopening plan.

Over the course of the pandemic, 2,170 Oklahomans have been hospitalized because of COVID-19. According to the state health department, 21% of Oklahoma's adult ICU beds are available. The state has stopped publicly reporting disaggregated hospital bed data.

The state health department reported on Wednesday 731 additional patients as recovered from COVID-19, raising that total to 17,366. Patients are considered recovered if they did not die, are not currently hospitalized and it has been at least 14 days since their symptoms began. The state has 5,015 active cases.

In Tulsa County, 164 additional patients are considered to have recovered for a total of 4,435, leaving the county with 1,112 active cases, an increase of 13 from Tuesday.

Overall, the state's percentage of positive tests held steady at 5.5%. More than 10.3% of 5,536 tests reported at the end of Tuesday were positive.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.
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