The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Friday 2,667 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 147,358.
Friday's reported case total is the second-highest to date.
Tulsa County had 318 new cases on Friday. Its total now stands at 26,064, second to Oklahoma County's 29,737.
The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, climbed for the 12th straight reporting day, going from 2,417 to 2,498. It's the eighth day in a row the state has set a new high in the seven-day average. The average has risen 1,477 over the past 12 reporting days. Since Sept. 19, the seven-day average has been below 1,000 just two days.
Tulsa County's seven-day average rose to its sixth new record in six days, climbing from 342 to 344. KWGS is calculating the county's seven-day average like the state's average has been calculated since a reporting change officially designated Nov. 7 as a day with no report. The average is calculated with the last seven reporting days, which avoids entering a value of zero. The Tulsa Health Department is using the last seven calendar days and shows the county's average as 297.
The state reported 12 deaths, with none in the past 24 hours. A Tulsa County woman age 50 to 64 years old and a woman 65 or older were reported dead. Statewide, two men 50 to 64 years old and eight adults 65 or older were also reported dead. Since March 18, COVID-19 has officially killed 1,493 Oklahomans, 233 of them Tulsa County residents.
There were 1,279 Oklahomans hospitalized for COVID-19 on Thursday evening, 31 more than on Tuesday and a third straight new record. The state did not release updated hospital counts on Wednesday evening, citing the Veterans Day holiday. Of those hospitalized Thursday, 1,202 had positive coronavirus tests. Overall, 350 Oklahomans hospitalized for COVID-19 were in intensive care units, 10 more than on Tuesday and a new record, breaking the previous high of 349 set Nov. 3.
According to the state health department, Tulsa County had 294 residents hospitalized as of Thursday evening, three more than on Tuesday.
Over the course of the pandemic, 10,106 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.
As of Wednesday, the state reported 7% of its adult ICU beds and 12% of its medical surgery beds were available.
The state health department reported 1,348 additional patients as recovered on Friday, bringing the total to 121,774. 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 24,091 active cases of COVID-19, 1,307 more than the day before and a ninth straight new record.
Tulsa County reported 208 additional patients as recovered, bringing the total to 22,280. The county has 3,551 active cases, 108 more than the day before and a new record for the fourth straight day.
The state's reported overall positive test rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 8.7% on Thursday. Out of 43,965 tests reported on Thursday, 12.7% were positive. Tests were not reported Wednesday because of the Veterans Day holiday. 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 Thursday that rate was 8.1%, up 0.1 percentage points from Tuesday.
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.
All 77 of Oklahoma's counties are at the orange level on the state's COVID alert map this week, indicating the highest risk of transmission. There were 76 counties at that level last week.
Tulsa County's rate of new cases per 100,000 population rose 53.5% this week, jumping from 34.2 to 52.5. The highest rate of new cases was 192.4 in Coal County, up 146.7% from last week. Several counties have rates over 100.
Regardless of transmission rates, counties are not classified at red, the alert map's highest level, unless COVID patients account for 40% of the staffed hospital beds in that county's state hospital region.
