COVID-19 is spreading faster than Tulsa County health officials projected.
The Tulsa Health Department thought it would be mid-January before 8% of county residents had been infected with the coronavirus, more than 52,100 people. The county is now on track to hit that milestone Friday.
THD Executive Director Dr. Bruce Dart said December easily topped November as the county’s worst month for new infections to date, driven by younger adults.
"This is represented by 18 to 35 being 30.07% of all of our cases in December, and our 36 to 49 year old age group being almost 22% of all of our cases," Dart said during a COVID-19 update on Wednesday.
December brought 14,000 new infections, the most in any month so far. Dart said a staggering number of tests are coming back positive right now.
"In December, the positivity rate for THD testing sites was 29%. Last week alone, our percent positivity rate was 38.43%. In November, the percent positivity rate for November was 29.3%," Dart said.
At current infection rates, 10% of Tulsa County residents could have been infected with the coronavirus by the end of January, more than 65,000 people. Dart said COVID-19 is now the county’s third-leading cause of death behind heart disease and cancer.
