The Tulsa Health Department has introduced a new, color-coded COVID-19 alert map, which Director Dr. Bruce Dart says is meant to help inform residents of the Tulsa metro of up-to-date risk levels in their communities.
"I think the more knowledge they have about where risk truly is allows them to follow recommendations and follow guidelines to keep themselves safe, and that's really what we're after," Dart said at a Monday press conference.
Dart said the highest concentration of active infections is currently in the southern part of Tulsa County. The share of total new cases in the city of Tulsa has continued to decline, Dart said, saying that Broken Arrow, Bixby, and Owasso continue to make up greater portions of that total. He repeated his call for Tulsa's suburbs to introduce mask requirements.
Dart said while cases are trending slowly downward countywide, there are still localized areas of high spread, and that cases continue to increase among children ages 5-to-17, who can then pass the disease on to family members, teachers, and others.
The map is to be updated weekly, Dart said. It currently lists one ZIP code in green, 26 in yellow, 14 in orange, and none in red. Each classification comes with a set of recommendations available at the health department's webpage for the map.
Oklahoma is currently experiencing major spread statewide. The most recently released report from the White House coronavirus task force says Oklahoma has the 3rd worst test positivity rate in the country, and the state passed the 1,000 death mark this weekend.
