© 2024 Public Radio Tulsa
800 South Tucker Drive
Tulsa, OK 74104
(918) 631-2577

A listener-supported service of The University of Tulsa
classical 88.7 | public radio 89.5
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Health Department Says COVID Backlog Resolved as Cases Pass 29,000, 7 More Dead

Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration

Oklahoma's total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rose by 314 on Friday as the State Department of Health reported a total of 29,116.

The state's online dashboard showed an increase of 1,147 cases, but that number reflected some cases reported out of a backlog of more than 820 the health department said was caused by multiple reporting system crashes. On Thursday, the state's total number of cases was 28,802.

The state health department said Friday the backlog of cases had been resolved.

Tulsa County added 255 cases to its total, which now stands at 7,111. Oklahoma County leads the state with 7,239 cases.

The state health department reported seven deaths on Friday, with two in the past 24 hours. Three were adults between 50 and 64 years old. Three were adults 65 or older. Information for the seventh death was not immediately available.

COVID-19 has now officially killed 484 Oklahomans. Tulsa County leads the state with 89 deaths but has not had one reported since Tuesday.

The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, fell from 766 to 711. It peaked at 773 on Tuesday. According to the Tulsa Health Department's dashboard, Tulsa County's seven-day average rose from 152 to 159. It peaked at 177 on July 17.

Statewide, 628 people were hospitalized as of Thursday evening, 21 more than the day before. Of those hospitalized Thursday, 260 were in intensive care units.

The state reported 21% of its adult ICU beds were available Thursday evening. The state has stopped reporting disaggregated hospital bed data.

Over the course of the pandemic, 2,687 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.

According to the Tulsa Health Department, local hospitalizations were at 148 at last count. Tulsa County hospitalization data was significantly revised on Friday and now shows a local peak in hospitalizations occured Monday and Tuesday, with 149 Tulsa County residents hospitalized both days. Local hospitalization numbers are frequently changed based on new information.

The state health department reported 836 additional patients as recovered, bringing the total to 23,277. 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 Tulsa Health Department reported 200 additional Tulsa County residents as recovered from COVID-19 for a total of 5,940, leaving the county with 1,082 active cases, an increase of 55 from Thursday.

Overall, the state's positive test rate remained at 6.2%. Out of 9,761 tests reported Thursday evening, 10.5% were positive.

The state health department announced Friday it can now use text messages as part of its contact tracing efforts. Initial contact messages start with "Message for [Contact’s Initials]" to reassure people that the source of the message is valid without revealing their name or other information.

People who prefer to receive phone calls will be called by a contact tracer from a phone number that will appear on caller ID as 405-522-0001.

The state health department said it currently has 300 contact tracers working and another 160 in training.

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.
Related Content