Oklahoma is in the red zone for new COVID-19 cases, positive test rate, and deaths per capita, according to the latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report.
Hospitals statewide are under record strain. The number of patients surpassed 1,000 for the first time ever Tuesday night, according to the state health department.
In an interview on KRMG radio this week, Gov. Kevin Stitt said the hospital system is in solid shape.
"There’s a lot of folks that are fear mongering and telling Oklahomans we don’t have the hospital capacity. Simply not true," Stitt said.
Concerns over hospital capacity, though, are being raised by doctors, hospital leaders and public health officials. Dr. Jennifer Clark of the University of Tulsa’s Oxley College of Health Sciences said Oklahoma hospitals as a whole are already unable to keep up with discharges in relation to admissions. She fears the worst as COVID and the flu begin to overlap.
"As you can imagine, with an additional 1,000 hospitalizations that we have for COVID-19 and the anticipated 3,000 to 4,000 hospitalizations that we’ll have with flu, those of us who are in hospitals are really, really concerned," Clark said.
Clark said the seven-day average for new deaths from the disease is also at an all-time high statewide. Dr. George Monks, president of the Oklahoma State Medical Association, described the current situation on Tuesday as the worst hospital crisis the state has ever seen.
As he’s done for months, Monks is calling on Stitt to issue a statewide mask mandate to save lives and protect hospitals from further strain. In his KRMG interview, Stitt said Oklahoma still doesn’t need one.
"This is a personal responsibility issue, and it’s something I’m pleased with the way our administration has handled it," Stitt said.
