The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported 445,963 total cases of COVID-19 in the state on Wednesday, an increase of 1,675 over the past week.
The state's total number of new cases in the past week represents a 30% drop from the week before.
Tulsa County data is now being updated on a weekly basis, with numbers reflecting the previous Sunday through Saturday. At last count, Tulsa County had 73,773 cases, up 428 over the past week. Tulsa County's total is second to Oklahoma County's 85,619.
The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, was 239 as of Wednesday, down 29.7% over the past week. The record of 4,256 was set Jan. 13. It has remained under 500 since March 17 if roughly 1,300 backlogged cases added April 7 are excluded.
Tulsa County's seven-day average rose for the fourth straight week, climbing from 48 to 61. The record is 647, set Jan. 9. It has remained below 100 since March 4.
The state health department reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's provisional death count in its updates. That count is based on death certificates entered into a vital statistics system and is updated on weekdays. As of Wednesday, the CDC counted 8,145 Oklahomans dead from COVID-19, an increase of 52 over the past week. At the time this story was published, the CDC had not updated its county-level data. Last week, 1,960 deaths were in Tulsa County.
The state is still carrying out its own investigations of COVID-19 deaths and updates that number weekly. The state-confirmed total is 6,716, with 1,022 in Tulsa County.
The state health department reports more than 2.5 million total doses of vaccines have been administered, with 152,648 given in the past week, a 31% decrease from the week before. More than 914,000 Oklahomans have now completed a vaccination series.
There were 191 Oklahomans with positive COVID tests hospitalized on Tuesday evening, the latest data available, 22 fewer than at the same time last week. The highest number so far was 1,994 hospitalized on Jan. 5. There were 47 COVID-positive Oklahomans in intensive care units on Tuesday, 10 fewer than at the same time last week. 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.
Over the course of the pandemic, 25,694 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.
According to the state health department, Tulsa County had 58 COVID-positive residents hospitalized as of Tuesday evening, up 11 from the same time last week. The state's reporting change does not affect regional numbers.
As of Tuesday, the state reported 16% of adult ICU beds and 19% of medical surgery beds available across all facility types. Also as of Tuesday, all of the state's hospital regions were at tier one of a four-tier hospital surge plan, meaning less than 15% of patients have tested positive for COVID for at least three consecutive days. The OKC region is the only region above 5%.
The state reported 10,229 active cases of COVID-19 in a Tuesday evening report, up 80 over the past week. The record is 43,163, set Jan. 11. Despite the change in death reporting, active cases are being reported as total cases less patients considered recovered and deaths confirmed by the state health department.
The state's reported overall positive test rate was 10.2% on Tuesday, down 0.1 percentage points from the same time last week. Over the past week, 4.1% of 63,188 reported tests were positive, up 0.5 percentage points from the week before. There were about 5,000 fewer tests done in the past week. Each positive test does not necessarily represent a unique individual.
The World Health Organization's benchmark indicating adequate testing is a 5% positive test rate.
There are three counties at the orange level on the state's COVID alert map, indicating the highest risk of transmission. That number is down 13 from last week. There are 64 counties, including Tulsa County, at the yellow level, up 10 from last week. Alfalfa, Custer, Grant, Hughes, Kiowa, Major, Noble, Okfuskee, Washita and Woods counties are at the green risk level, three more than last week.
Tulsa County's rate of new cases per 100,000 population rose 28.8% since it was last reported, going from 7.3 to 9.4. The highest rate of new cases was in Ottawa County, which had a new case rate of 16.5, up 19.6% from the week before. The state health department changed its reporting of alert map data from Fridays to Wednesdays.
The orange level starts at 14.3 new cases per 100,000. 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.
Just 15 counties have not yet hit 10% of their population testing positive for the coronavirus. Alfalfa County leads the state with 20.3% of residents testing positive to date. It's the only county so far to break the 20% level.
In Tulsa County, 11.3% of residents have tested positive to date, 0.6 percentage points higher than in Oklahoma County.
