The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Thursday 1,677 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 409,401.
Tulsa County had 228 of Thursday's cases. Its total now stands at 67,930, second to Oklahoma County's 78,215.
The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, fell from 1,920 to 1,762, its lowest level since Nov. 7. The record of 4,256 was set Jan. 13. Oct. 5 was the last time the seven-day average was below 1,000.
Tulsa County's seven-day average fell from 370 to 339, its lowest level since Nov. 11. The record is 647, set Jan. 9. Oct. 29 was the last time the seven-day average was below 100.
The state reported 48 deaths. The state health department said most of the deaths reported Thursday happened in November, but some facilities' reports were delayed and some deaths took additional time to investigate. Seven of the reported deaths were Tulsa County residents: five women and two men age 65 or older.
Since March 18, COVID-19 has officially killed 3,948 Oklahomans, 644 of them Tulsa County residents. Tulsa and Oklahoma counties are tied for the most deaths. The state has reported an average of 38.1 deaths the past seven days.
There were 872 Oklahomans with positive COVID tests hospitalized on Wednesday evening, 58 fewer than on Tuesday. The highest number so far was 1,994 hospitalized on Jan. 5. There were 258 COVID-positive Oklahomans in intensive care units on Wednesday, 31 fewer than on Tuesday. KWGS is basing hospitalization and ICU bed numbers on the total across all types of facilities. The state changed to reporting just acute care hospitals but still gives numbers for focus, rehabilitation and tribal facilities.
According to the state health department, Tulsa County had 198 COVID-positive residents hospitalized as of Wednesday evening, 20 fewer than on Tuesday. The state's reporting change does not affect regional numbers.
Over the course of the pandemic, 23,020 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.
As of Wednesday, the state reported 8% of adult ICU beds and 12% of medical surgery beds available across all facility types. Also as of Wednesday, the OKC region was 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 southwest region is currently at tier two. The Tulsa, central, northwest, southeast, northeast and east central regions are at tier one. The OKC region has been around 23% the past several days.
The state health department reported 2,175 additional patients as recovered on Thursday, bringing the total to 382,342. 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 23,111 active cases of COVID-19, 546 fewer than the day before and the lowest total since Nov. 12. The record is 43,163, set Jan. 11.
Tulsa County reported 382 additional patients as recovered, bringing the total to 63,745. The county has 3,541 active cases, 161 fewer than the day before and the lowest total since Nov. 12. The record is 6,731, set Jan. 11.
The state's reported overall positive test rate was 11.3% on Wednesday, down 0.1 percentage points after holding steady for three weeks. Out of 15,757 tests reported on Wednesday, 6.1% were positive. Each positive test does not necessarily represent a unique individual.
The state used to report 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 Wednesday, that rate was 12.2%, unchanged for about a week.
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.
