The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Wednesday 2,177 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 142,334.
Tulsa County had 346 of those cases. Its total now stands at 25,370, second to Oklahoma County's 28,731.
The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, climbed for a 10th straight reporting day, jumping from 2,137 to 2,258. It's the sixth day in a row the state has set a new high in the seven-day average. The average has risen 1,237 over the past 10 reporting days. Since Sept. 19, the seven-day average has been below 1,000 just two days.
Tulsa County's seven-day average is being reviewed after a change in daily case reporting by the state health department.
The state reported 19 deaths, three of them in Tulsa County. More information was not immediately available. Since March 18, COVID-19 has officially killed 1,470 Oklahomans, 231 of them Tulsa County residents.
There were 1,248 Oklahomans hospitalized for COVID-19 on Tuesday evening, 146 more than on Monday and a new record for the second straight day. Of those hospitalized Tuesday, 1,157 had positive coronavirus tests. Overall, 340 Oklahomans hospitalized for COVID-19 were in intensive care units, six more than on Monday.
According to the state health department, Tulsa County had 291 residents hospitalized as of Tuesday evening, 33 more than on Monday. On Monday night, the Oklahoma Regional Medical Response System reported there were no available ICU beds in the City of Tulsa. Mayor G.T. Bynum and Ascension St. John officials said in a Tuesday afternoon news conference ICU capacity is fluid and hospitals are still able to care for all patients across their regional system.
Over the course of the pandemic, 9,868 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.
As of Tuesday, the state reported 6% of its adult ICU beds and 13% of its medical surgery beds were available.
The state health department reported 1,070 additional patients as recovered on Wednesday, bringing the total to 119,144. Patients are considered to have recovered if they did not die, are not currently hospitalized and it has been at least 14 days since their symptoms began. Symptoms have been reported to linger for several weeks for some individuals.
The state has 21,720 active cases of COVID-19, 1,088 more than the day before and a new record.
Tulsa County reported 129 additional patients as recovered, bringing the total to 21,873. The county has 3,266 active cases, 214 more than the day before and a new record for the second straight day.
The state's reported overall positive test rate remained at 8.6% on Tuesday. Out of 13,104 tests reported on Tuesday, 2.9% were positive. Each positive test does not necessarily represent a unique individual.
The state also reports its cumulative positive test rate, a metric used by Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. It is calculated by dividing the number of cases by the number of negative tests plus the number of cases. As of Tuesday, that rate was 8.0%, unchanged from Monday.
Johns Hopkins uses the different rate to compare states that may track testing differently. It notes the ideal way to calculate the positivity rate is dividing the number of people who test positive by the number of people who are tested, which is how Oklahoma's overall rate is calculated.
The World Health Organization's benchmark indicating adequate testing is a 5% positive test rate.
