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COVID-19 Update: Spread Up Slightly, Statewide Hospitalizations Steady

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported 444,288 total cases of COVID-19 in the state on Wednesday, an increase of 2,382 over the past week.

The state has seen roughly the same number of new infections each of the past three weeks.

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 73,345 cases, up 333 over the past week. Tulsa County's total is second to Oklahoma County's 85,218.

The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, was 340 as of Wednesday, up 11% 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 last week are excluded.

Tulsa County's seven-day average rose for the third straight week, climbing from 47 to 48. 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 8,093 Oklahomans dead from COVID-19, an increase of 99 over the past week. At the time this story was published, the CDC had not updated its county-level data. Last week, 1,942 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 6,697, with 1,022 in Tulsa County.

The state health department reports more than 2.3 million total doses of vaccines have been administered, with 219,828 given in the past week, a slight decrease from the week before. More than 820,500 Oklahomans have now completed a vaccination series.

There were 213 Oklahomans with positive COVID tests hospitalized on Tuesday evening, the latest data available, unchanged from the same time last week. The highest number so far was 1,994 hospitalized on Jan. 5. There were 57 COVID-positive Oklahomans in intensive care units on Tuesday, one more 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, 25,497 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.

According to the state health department, Tulsa County had 47 COVID-positive residents hospitalized as of Tuesday evening, up three from the same time last week. The state's reporting change does not affect regional numbers.

As of Tuesday, the state reported 14% of adult ICU beds and 16% 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 approaching 8% after a slow, sustained increase over the past week.

The state reported 10,149 active cases of COVID-19 in a Tuesday evening report, down 336 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 10.3% on Tuesday, down 0.2 percentage points from the same time last week. Over the past week, 3.6% of 68,278 reported tests were positive, up 0.3 percentage points from the week before. There were almost 20,000 more 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 16 counties at the orange level on the state's COVID alert map, indicating the highest risk of transmission. That number is up six from last week. There are 54 counties, including Tulsa County, at the yellow level, down three from last week. Adair, Cimarron, Coal, Ellis, Grant, Pushmataha and Washita counties are at the green risk level, three fewer than last week.

Tulsa County's rate of new cases per 100,000 population rose 1.4% since it was last reported, going from 7.2 to 7.3. The highest rate of new cases was in Murray County, which had a new case rate of 34.5, up 143% 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 16 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.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.
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