The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Tuesday 2,224 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 241,991.
Tulsa County had 331 of those cases. Its total has surpassed 40,000 cases and now stands at 40,229, second to Oklahoma County's 50,121. Oklahoma County is the first in the state to break 50,000 cases. The counties have similar proportions of residents who have been infected.
The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, remains near record levels, ticking down from 3,054 to 3,044. The average has held relatively steady since Dec. 6. The record is 3,387, set the day after Thanksgiving. Oct. 5 was the last time the seven-day average was below 1,000.
Tulsa County's seven-day average of new cases fell from 457 to 440. Since the county's seven-day average first broke 400 on Nov. 16, it has dipped below that on just four days. The record of 498 was set Dec. 4.
The state reported 14 deaths. A Tulsa County man and woman both 65 or older were reported dead. Statewide, a Lincoln County man 36 to 49 years old, three adults 50 to 64 years old and eight more adults 65 or older were also reported dead.
Since March 18, COVID-19 has officially killed 2,086 Oklahomans, 319 of them Tulsa County residents. The state has reported an average of 23.4 deaths the past seven days.
There were 1,741 Oklahomans hospitalized for COVID-19 on Monday evening, 77 more than on Friday. Of those hospitalized Monday, 1,687 had positive coronavirus tests. Overall, 471 Oklahomans hospitalized for COVID-19 were in intensive care units, 19 more than on Friday.
According to the state health department, Tulsa County had 420 residents hospitalized as of Monday evening, 35 more than on Friday. The record is 431, set Nov. 30.
Over the course of the pandemic, 14,408 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.
As of Monday, the state reported 4% of its adult ICU beds and 16% of its medical surgery beds were available. Also as of Monday, six of Oklahoma's eight hospital regions, including Tulsa and Oklahoma counties, are at tier three of a four-tier hospital surge plan, meaning 20% to 40% of patients have tested positive for COVID-19 for at least three consecutive days. The OKC region has seen at eight consecutive days of 34% to 35% of patients with COVID. Only the east central region remains in tier one.
The state health department reported 4,364 additional patients as recovered on Tuesday, bringing the total to 206,896. 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 33,009 active cases of COVID-19, 2,154 fewer than Monday's record high.
Tulsa County reported 628 additional patients as recovered, bringing the total to 34,783. The county has 5,127 active cases, 299 fewer than Monday's new record.
The state's reported overall positive test rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 10.1% on Monday. Out of 45,131 tests reported on Monday, 15.9% 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 Monday, that rate was 10%, up 0.2 percentage points from Friday.
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.
