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ICU Availability Dwindling as Oklahoma Moves Past 23,000 COVID Cases, Two More Dead in Tulsa County

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Thursday 628 new cases of COVID-19, pushing the state's total to 23,441.

Tulsa County had 164 of Thursday's new cases, bringing its state-leading total to 5,790. Oklahoma County is just 34 cases behind.

Six deaths were reported Thursday, including a Tulsa County woman between 50 and 64 years old and a Tulsa County man 65 or older. All other deaths in the state were adults 65 or older. The state health department said two people died in the past 24 hours.

COVID-19 has officially killed 438 Oklahomans. Tulsa County has 81 deaths, most in the state.

The state's seven-day average of new cases, a measure of the trend in new infections, continued its nearly two-week climb, hitting another new high of 706 on Thursday, up from 703 the day before.

Tulsa County's seven-day average ticked up from 151 to 157. Its all-time high was 166 on July 12.

Statewide, hospitalizations were at 604 as of Thursday evening, 34 fewer than at the end of Wednesday. The number of people in the hospital has generally increased since June 1, the day Oklahoma moved to phase three of Gov. Kevin Stitt's reopening plan, and the state reported just 17% of adult ICU beds statewide are currently available.

The state has stopped publicly reporting disaggregated hospital bed data.

According to the Tulsa Health Department, local hospitalizations continue to decline but are still high, with 98 people hospitalized at last count. Tulsa County hit a high of 114 hospitalizations on July 8.

Over the course of the pandemic, 2,218 Oklahomans have been hospitalized because of COVID-19.

The state health department reported on Wednesday 729 additional patients as recovered from COVID-19, raising that total to 18,095. 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 4,908 active cases.

In Tulsa County, 194 additional patients are considered to have recovered for a total of 4,629, leaving the county with 1,080 active cases, an decrease of 32 from Wednesday.

Overall, the state's percentage of positive tests rose from 5.5% to 5.6%. More than 9.9% of 9,858 tests reported at the end of Wednesday 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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