One of Oklahoma’s leading COVID experts said Wednesday while transmission remains high in the state, trends are headed in the right direction.
OU Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler said Oklahoma has fallen out of the top 10 in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's seven-day rate of new cases per 100,000 residents. But he warned the state isn’t out of the woods yet when it comes to hospitals being overwhelmed.
"People who get COVID-19 that are sick enough to be in the hospital are often there for prolonged periods of time. So, it keeps our hospitals full, our emergency rooms full. I know our system still has to deal with patients that are being boarded in the emergency department, waiting on inpatient beds," Bratzler said. "It's going to be a while before we get past that, even though the case counts now are coming down."
Deaths also lag behind hospitalizations, so that number is expected to continue rising. The U.S. hit the grim milestone of COVID killing one in every 500 people. Oklahoma is ahead of that, according to CDC data, with COVID killing one in roughly every 410 residents.
The state’s seven-day average is down about 600 from two weeks ago, though it is still high enough that the CDC considers 76 of 77 counties to have high transmission rates. Bratzler said that makes following guidance on masking important.
"There is a rationale for wearing a mask at indoor events, where spread is much more common. That is because even if you're fully vaccinated, you can get infected. And if you happen to be an older person who gets reinfected, you can get really sick with Delta variant," Bratzler said.
People who are not fully vaccinated remain at greatest risk from Delta. An analysis finds they are nearly five times more likely to be infected, 10 times more likely to be hospitalized and 11 times more likely to die.
