Updated Aug. 19, 5:45 p.m. to correct state's seven-day average.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Tuesday 17 new deaths from COVID-19. Since March 18, 682 Oklahomans have died from the illness caused by the novel coronavirus.
Four deaths were in Tulsa County, which has now seen 120 residents die from COVID-19, the second-highest total in the state. Oklahoma County leads the state with 132 deaths.
More information on the deaths was not immediately available due to technical issues at the state health department.
The state health department reported 615 new cases of COVID-19. The state now has 49,326 confirmed cases. Tulsa County had 171 of Tuesday's new cases, bringing its total to 11,614, second to Oklahoma County's 11,801.
The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, dropped from 678 to 656. It has not been below 650 since July 14.
The seven-day average hit a peak of 1,093 on Aug. 1. When Oklahoma moved to phase three of Gov. Kevin Stitt's reopening plan on June 1, the average was 69 cases.
Tulsa County's seven-day average of new cases dropped from 126 to 124, its lowest level since July 5. Tulsa County's rolling average has fallen for nine days in a row.
As of Monday evening, 568 Oklahomans were hospitalized for COVID-19, 62 more than reported at the end of last week. Of those hospitalized Monday, 474 had positive coronavirus tests. Overall, 240 Oklahomans hospitalized for COVID-19 were in intensive care units, four more than on Friday.
Tulsa County reported 188 residents hospitalized as of Sunday, a new high. Local hospitalization numbers change frequently based on new data. Tulsa County hospitalizations have been trending up overall since Aug. 1.
Over the course of the pandemic, 4,115 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.
The state reported 23% of its adult ICU beds were available as of Monday.
The state health department reported an additional 839 patients as recovered on Tuesday, bringing the total to 41,370. 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 7,274 active cases of COVID-19, 241 fewer than the day before.
Tulsa County reported a total of 10,106 patients recovered as of Monday, an increase of 171 from the day before. The county has 1,388 active cases, four fewer than the day before.
The state's overall positive test rate on Monday was 7.3%, up 0.1 percentage points from the end of last week. Out of 21,319 tests reported on Monday, 10.5% were positive. 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.
