The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Thursday 1,146 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 422,156.
Tulsa County had 295 of Thursday's cases. Its total now stands at 70,584, second to Oklahoma County's 80,275.
The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, rose for the first time after 20 straight days of declines, going from 736 to 811. The record of 4,256 was set Jan. 13.
Tulsa County's seven-day average climbed from 168 to 181. The record is 647, set Jan. 9. Oct. 29 was the last time the seven-day average was below 100.
The state reported 38 deaths, with 26 happening since Jan. 1. Additional information about when deaths occurred was not immediately provided. Six deaths were in Tulsa County: one woman 36 to 49 years old, and two women and three men 65 or older.
Since March 18, COVID-19 has officially killed 4,302 Oklahomans, 687 of them Tulsa County residents. The state has reported an average of 27.1 deaths the past seven days.
There were 542 Oklahomans with positive COVID tests hospitalized on Wednesday evening, 105 fewer than on Tuesday. The highest number so far was 1,994 hospitalized on Jan. 5. There were 157 COVID-positive Oklahomans in intensive care units on Wednesday, 16 fewer than on Tuesday. 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, 23,813 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.
As of Wednesday, the state reported 7% of adult ICU beds and 16% of medical surgery beds available across all facility types. Also as of Wednesday, the OKC region was at tier two of a four-tier hospital surge plan, meaning 15% to 20% of patients tested positive for COVID-19 for at least three consecutive days. All other regions are at tier one.
The state health department reported 1,151 additional patients as recovered on Thursday, bringing the total to 404,310. 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 13,544 active cases of COVID-19, 43 fewer than the day before. The record is 43,163, set Jan. 11.
Tulsa County reported 293 additional patients as recovered, bringing the total to 68,193. The county has 1,704 active cases, four fewer than the day before. The record is 6,731, set Jan. 11.
The state's reported overall positive test rate was 11.2%, on Wednesday, unchanged for more than a week. Out of 10,444 tests reported on Wednesday, 2% 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 Wednesday, that rate was 12.2%, unchanged for almost three weeks.
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.
