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Oklahoma Shatters Monthly Records for New COVID Cases and Deaths Set in October

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Monday 2,200 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 197,745.

Tulsa County had 362 of Monday's cases. Its total now stands at 33,569, second to Oklahoma County's 40,259.

The state added 74,983 cases of COVID-19 to its total in November, the most of any month so far and a 111% increase from the previous high in October. 

The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, fell from 3,031 to 2,839. The record is 3,318, set on Thanksgiving Day. Oct. 5 was the last time the seven-day average was below 1,000.

Tulsa County's seven-day average of new cases dropped from 459 to 438. It hit a new all-time high of 492 on Saturday.

The state reported seven deaths but did not identify whether any happened in the past 24 hours. All seven people were adults 65 or older, including one man in Tulsa County.

Since March 18, COVID-19 has officially killed 1,743 Oklahomans, 269 of them in Tulsa County. The state has reported an average of 13.4 deaths over the past seven days.

In November, the state reported 406 deaths, the most in a single month so far. November's record number of reported deaths was up 33% from the previous record, set in October.

There were 1,653 Oklahomans hospitalized for COVID-19 on Wednesday evening, the last time those numbers were officially reported. That total was 49 more than on Tuesday and a fourth straight new record. Of those hospitalized Wednesday, 1,577 had positive coronavirus tests. Overall, 432 Oklahomans hospitalized for COVID-19 were in intensive care units, unchanged from Tuesday.

According to the state health department, Tulsa County had 401 residents hospitalized as of Wednesday evening, 29 more than on Tuesday and a new high for the second straight day.

Over the course of the pandemic, 12,258 Oklahomans have been hospitalized for COVID-19.

As of Sunday, the state reported 5% of its adult ICU beds and 15% of its medical surgery beds were available. As of Friday, six 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. Only the east central region remains in tier one.

The state health department reported 1,772 additional patients as recovered on Monday, bringing the total to 163,727. 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 32,275 active cases of COVID-19, 421 more than the day before. The record of 33,844 was set Nov. 23.

Tulsa County reported 243 additional patients as recovered, bringing the total to 28,263. The county has 5,037 active cases, 118 more than the day before. The record is 5,078, set Nov. 23.

The state's reported overall positive test rate remained at 9.4% on Wednesday, the last day those figures were reported. Out of 28,445 tests reported on Wednesday, 13.7% 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 Wednesday, that rate was 9%, up 0.1 percentage points from Tuesday.

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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