The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Friday 1,417 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 410,818.
Tulsa County had 210 of Friday's cases. Its total now stands at 68,160, second to Oklahoma County's 78,430.
The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, fell from 1,762 to 1,584, 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 339 to 286, its lowest level since Nov. 9. The record is 647, set Jan. 9. Oct. 29 was the last time the seven-day average was below 100.
The state reported 11 deaths, including a Tulsa County woman 50 to 64 years old. When the deaths occurred was not immediately reported.
Since March 18, COVID-19 has officially killed 3,959 Oklahomans, 645 of them Tulsa County residents. One in 1,000 Oklahomans has now died from the illness. The state hit that milestone seven weeks after the United States did as a whole. The state has reported an average of 35.6 deaths the past seven days.
There were 883 Oklahomans with positive COVID tests hospitalized on Thursday evening, 11 more than on Wednesday. The highest number so far was 1,994 hospitalized on Jan. 5. There were 256 COVID-positive Oklahomans in intensive care units on Thursday, two fewer than on Wednesday. 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 211 COVID-positive residents hospitalized as of Thursday evening, 13 more than on Wednesday. The state's reporting change does not affect regional numbers.
Over the course of the pandemic, 23,085 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.
As of Thursday, the state reported 9% of adult ICU beds and 15% of medical surgery beds available across all facility types. Also as of Thursday, 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 dropped from 23% to 21% over the past several days.
The state health department reported 2,056 additional patients as recovered on Friday, bringing the total to 384,398. 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 22,461 active cases of COVID-19, 650 fewer than the day before and the lowest total since Nov. 11. The record is 43,163, set Jan. 11.
Tulsa County reported 320 additional patients as recovered, bringing the total to 64,065. The county has 3,450 active cases, 91 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 Thursday, unchanged from Friday. Out of 14,833 tests reported on Thursday, 3.6% 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 Thursday, that rate was 12.2%, unchanged for 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.
There are 74 counties at the orange level on the state's COVID alert map, indicating the highest risk of transmission. Since last week, Cimarron County remained at yellow, Beaver County fell from orange to yellow and Roger Mills County fell from orange to green.
Tulsa County's rate of new cases per 100,000 population fell 15.6% this week, going from 61.7 to 52.1. The highest rate of new cases was in Harmon County, which had a new case rate of 107.7, up 300.4% from last week.
The orange level starts at 14.3 new cases per 100,000. Harmon County is the only one with a new case rate 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 acute care hospital beds in that county's state hospital region.
