How many Oklahomans have died from COVID-19?
As of Monday, the state said nearly 4,500, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said almost 7,000. State Epidemiologist Dr. Jared Taylor said the CDC's tally is probably close to the real total.
The CDC's provisional death tally comes from death certificates reported to a national vital statistics system. The state health department’s official tally comes after cases entered into a public health reporting system are fully investigated. Taylor said as hospitals faced immense strain caring for COVID patients the past several months, reporting to that system slowed.
"And that’s very understandable. If you have to make the decision between keeping records or caring for a patient, we all are going to first and foremost say that the patient care has to take the priority. But that has had an impact on our ability to do these investigations as promptly as we would like," Taylor said.
Critics have asked why the state doesn't use the same method as the CDC. Taylor said the state health department is not trying to minimize deaths but does want to fully investigate cases using its statewide public health surveillance system.
"Each one of these deaths is a tragedy and is a great cost to the family and friends of that individual, to the state of Oklahoma, and to the world," Taylor said.
Taylor said the health department hopes to build a linkage to the CDC health statistics system that will help show COVID deaths closer to the actual number.
