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More Than 100 COVID Deaths Reported Over The Weekend, But Weekly Total Down For A 2nd Week

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Monday 1,040 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 404,994.

The state broke the 400,000 confirmed cases mark on Saturday.

Tulsa County had 199 of Monday's cases. Its total now stands at 67,251, second to Oklahoma County's 77,482. Oklahoma County, however, has yet to surpass 10% of its residents testing positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic.

The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, fell from 2,069 to 2,018, its lowest level since Nov. 8. The average has stayed below 3,000 for 21 days. The record of 4,256 was set Jan. 13. Oct. 5 was the last time the seven-day average was below 1,000.

Tulsa County's seven-day average fell from 420 to 410. It has stayed below 500 for 20 days. The record is 647, set Jan. 9. Oct. 29 was the last time the seven-day average was below 100.

The state reported four deaths on Monday after reporting 103 over the weekend. When the deaths occurred was not immediately reported. None of Monday's deaths was in Tulsa County, but 15 residents were among the deaths reported over the weekend.

Since March 18, COVID-19 has officially killed 3,817 Oklahomans. Tulsa County leads the state with 625 deaths. The state has reported an average of 36.1 deaths the past seven days. A total of 266 deaths were reported last week, the third-highest weekly total.

There were 1,035 Oklahomans with positive COVID tests hospitalized on Friday evening, 36 fewer than on Thursday. The highest number so far was 1,994 hospitalized on Jan. 5. There were 303 COVID-positive Oklahomans in intensive care units on Friday, one more than on Thursday. 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.

According to the state health department, Tulsa County had 231 COVID-positive residents hospitalized as of Friday evening, four more than on Thursday. The state's reporting change does not affect regional numbers.

Over the course of the pandemic, 22,453 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.

As of Sunday, the state reported 7% of adult ICU beds and 16% of medical surgery beds available across all facility types. As of Friday, the OKC region was 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 Tulsa, central, southwest and southeast regions are currently at tier two. The northwest and east central regions are at tier one. The OKC region has dropped from 27% to 25% over the past several days. Tulsa could drop to tier one as soon as Monday.

The state health department reported 1,460 additional patients as recovered on Monday, bringing the total to 374,950. 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 26,227 active cases of COVID-19, 424 fewer than the day before. The record is 43,163, set Jan. 11

Tulsa County reported 246 additional patients as recovered, bringing the total to 62,438. The county has 4,188 active cases, 47 fewer than the day before. The record is 6,731, set Jan. 11.

The state's reported overall positive test rate was 11.4% on Friday, unchanged for three weeks. Out of 26,172 tests reported on Friday, 8.7% 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 Friday, that rate was 12.2%, unchanged 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.

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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