The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Monday 2,596 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 263,434.
Tulsa County had 427 of Monday's cases. Its total now stands at 44,100, second to Oklahoma County's 53,592.
The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, remains near record levels and rose from 3,310 to 3,381. The average has held relatively steady since Dec. 6. The record is 3,387, set the day after Thanksgiving. Oct. 5 was the last time the seven-day average was below 1,000.
Tulsa County's seven-day average of new cases hit a new record for a second straight day, climbing from 578 to 600. Sunday was the first time the county's average went above 500.
The state reported six deaths, with none in Tulsa County. A woman 50 to 64 years old in Pottawatomie County and five adults 65 or older were reported dead.
Since March 18, COVID-19 has officially killed 2,218 Oklahomans, 350 of them in Tulsa County. The state has reported an average of 20.9 deaths the past seven days.
The state changed its hospital reporting on Tuesday and is now only giving the number of patients with a positive COVID test. Admitted patients suspected of having COVID-19 were previously included in the total. There were 1,704 Oklahomans with positive COVID tests hospitalized on Friday evening, 29 fewer than Thursday's record number. When the state set its combined hospitalization record of 1,782 on Dec. 2, 1,673 of those patients had positive COVID tests. There were 455 COVID-positive Oklahomans in intensive care units on Friday, five fewer than on Thursday.
According to the state health department, Tulsa County had 392 COVID-positive residents hospitalized as of Friday evening, seven fewer than on Thursday.
Over the course of the pandemic, 15,358 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.
As of Saturday, the state reported 7% of its adult ICU beds and 16% of its medical surgery beds were available. As of Friday, seven of Oklahoma's eight hospital regions, including Tulsa and Oklahoma counties, are at tier three of a four-tier hospital surge plan, meaning 20% to 40% of patients have tested positive for COVID-19 for at least three consecutive days. The OKC and northeast regions have seen four days with 36% to 37% of patients with COVID. Only the east central region remains in tier one.
The state health department reported 1,798 additional patients as recovered on Monday, bringing the total to 224,672. 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 36,544 active cases of COVID-19, a new record for the second straight day and 792 more than on Sunday.
Tulsa County reported 229 additional patients as recovered, bringing the total to 37,965. The county has 5,785 active cases, a new record for the second straight day and 198 more than on Sunday.
The state's reported overall positive test rate rose 0.1 percentage points on Friday to 10.3%. Out of 8,364 tests reported on Friday, 21.6% were positive. Each positive test does not necessarily represent a unique individual.
The state also reports 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 Friday, that rate was 10.3%, up 0.1 percentage points from Thursday.
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.
