Nearly 2,000 COVID-19 patients remained hospitalized across Oklahoma on Tuesday as the state headed to the top of the country’s list of virus hospitalization rates and held its No. 1 ranking in test positivity.
A total of 1,987 patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were hospitalized in Oklahoma as of Wednesday evening, with 489 in ICU beds, according to the state’s most recent survey of facilities.
The state typically has about 1,000 ICU beds available for use; 45 beds remained unoccupied Tuesday.
Oklahoma is tied with Georgia for the highest rate of new hospital admissions for confirmed COVID-19 infections, and the state continues to lead the nation for COVID-19 test positivity since mid-December when the state moved from No. 3 to No. 1, according to information released through the federal Department of Health and Human Services.
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The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported Wednesday that 3,305 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed on Tuesday along with a record 62 additional deaths related to the virus. The previous daily reporting high for COVID-19 fatalities was 54 on Dec. 2.
Among the deaths confirmed Tuesday were two men in the 18-35 age group and two men and one woman in the 36-49 age group in Bryan, Jackson, Oklahoma, Tulsa and Washington counties, respectively.
The additional deaths were reported in patients 50 or older in Bryan, Canadian, Comanche, Creek, Custer, Grady, Hughes, Jefferson, Kay, Latimer, LeFlore, Logan, Mayes, McCurtain, Murray, Muskogee, Oklahoma, Payne, Pottawatomie, Rogers, Sequoyah, Stephens, Tulsa and Wagoner counties, bringing the confirmed death toll since March to 2,633.
According to state data, 311,573 cases have been confirmed across the state since March, with 274,657 patients considered recovered, according to the State Health Department. A total of 34,283 confirmed cases remain active.
The state’s seven-day average of daily cases is 3,506; the record rolling average, 3,535, was reported Dec. 25.
Tulsa County reported 409 new cases were confirmed Tuesday, along with 13 additional deaths. The county’s seven-day rolling average of new cases is 534.
COVID-19 by the numbers
The data below are current as of 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Tulsa County
Confirmed cases: 51,319 (+409)
Deaths: 429 (+13)
Oklahoma
Confirmed cases: 311,573 (+3,305)
Deaths: 2,633 (+62)
National ranking in deaths per capita: T34
National ranking in test positivity: 1
National ranking in new cases per capita: 7
National ranking in new COVID-19 hospitalization admissions: T1
United States
Confirmed cases: 21,074,724
Deaths: 358,107
Worldwide
Confirmed cases: 86,704,216
Deaths: 1,874,732
Sources: Oklahoma State Department of Health, Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Video: Mean comments read aloud by Tulsa Health Department staff
Since the beginning of this response, we have received a lot of criticism. We’re community members too, and we are working endlessly to protect the health of everyone in Tulsa Country (regardless if you like us). Every comment, complaint, DM is read by someone here at the Tulsa Health Department. And to be honest, it can be defeating and time consuming to filter through the real concerns and the real hatred. We’d like to remind everyone to just be kind. See the impact of your feedback in what we’d like to call “THD Reads Mean Tweets.”
Music: bensound.com
Mourning COVID-19 deaths: These are some of the Oklahomans we lost in 2020
COVID-19 deaths: These are some of the Oklahomans we've lost
Leanna Crutcher fought for family, change after son Terence's slaying
Pastor's wife. Mother. Music teacher. For much of her life, Leanna Crutcher was best known for those roles, which she pursued with quiet dedication.
But she had another side, as well. And when the situation demanded, it would show itself.
“Mom was a fighter. She’s where I got my fight from,” said Tiffany Crutcher, adding that everything changed for her mother after the loss of her son, Terence, in 2016.
Having witnessed her mother’s unlikely transformation into activist after her son was killed by police, Tiffany was not surprised to see that same fighting spirit come out again recently when facing COVID-19. But in the end, the virus proved too tough.
Leanna Crutcher, 67, died Jan. 14 of complications from COVID-19. She left behind her husband of 51 years, the Rev. Joey Crutcher, a daughter and son, and 10 grandchildren, including three of her late son’s children whom she was raising.
Debbie Rusher, EMSA paramedic
Debbie Rusher joined EMSA in 1999. Around Thanksgiving, her COVID-19 struggle became grave. Numerous EMSA colleagues and other workers with the Tulsa Police and Fire departments blared their lights outside Ascension St. John Medical Center in Tulsa to show their support for Rusher, who died Dec. 28 at 56.
Dr. Greg Gray, a doctor at Saint Francis Hospital South, wrote how Rusher was “out in our community working to help all of us” stay safe from COVID-19. How Rusher contracted the virus likely will remain unknown, he said, but he called her an “awesome, loving, caring paramedic” whose loss is “hitting our EMSA and EMS community HARD.”
Dr. Yee Se Ong
A longtime Muskogee physician who was the first cardiologist to set up a practice in the community, Dr. Yee Se Ong died Dec. 21 at Saint Francis Hospital in Tulsa of complications from COVID-19.
For the past several months of the pandemic, Ong spent virtually every waking hour in the ICU at Saint Francis Hospital in Muskogee.
Ong was a native of Cabanatuan in the Philippines. He came to Muskogee in July 1979 and dedicated his life to caring for residents from the rural areas and small communities nearby.
Pam Rask, Tulsa Health Department
Pam Rask, 61, was serving as Tulsa Health Department's division chief of adolescent and child health when she died Dec. 26. A public Facebook post from relatives indicated Rask had been hospitalized and placed on a ventilator after testing positive for COVID-19.
Jimmy's Egg pioneer Loc Van Le
Loc Van Le, who purchased a single breakfast cafe in 1980 and turned it into a multi-state franchise, died of complications from the coronavirus Dec. 10, 2020. He was 75.
As it mourns the passing of its patriarch, the Le (pronounced Lee) family is keeping vigil for its matriarch Kim, who remains hospitalized with the virus.
Oklahoma education advocate Melvin Todd
Melvin R. Todd, Ph.D, died Dec. 2 after testing positive for COVID-19. He was 87.
Todd was one of Oklahoma’s most consequential educators, leaving a trailblazing legacy of leadership through racial integration.
Former longtime Oklahoma City pastor Nick Harris
The Rev. Nick Harris, former longtime minister of First United Methodist Church of Oklahoma City, died on Nov. 23. He was 81.
His life story intersected with the broader story of the tragedy of April 19, 1995, and the triumph of the "Oklahoma Standard" that prevailed in its aftermath.
Jerad Lindsey, Tulsa FOP chairman
Jerad Lindsey, 40, chairman of the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police, died in October after suffering complications of COVID-19, the agency reported.
He had started his career with Tulsa Police Department in 2005 and worked as patrol officer. He recently was serving also as Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police vice president.
Lindsey is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and two sons.
Oklahoma City preservation leader Bill Gumerson
Bill Gumerson, 76, who co-founded Friends of the Mansion, a group that has helped support upkeep of the Governor’s Mansion, died on Thanksgiving from COVID-19.
As president of Preservation Oklahoma he led a successful capital campaign to renovate the Overholser Mansion.
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Jeff Sewell
Capt. Jeff Sewell, 58, had been hospitalized since Sept. 5 due to COVID-19, and he died at Texoma Medical Center in Denison, Texas, on Sept. 26, according to a social media post.
“It is with deepest regret that the Oklahoma Highway Patrol announces the passing of one of our active duty members,” the agency wrote the post.
Tulsa Public Schools electrician Michael Angelo
Michael Angelo, an electrician who worked in the maintenance and plant operations department and joined Tulsa Public Schools in 2007, died in October and is the district’s first COVID-related death.
Angelo’s wife, Violet Angelo, also became ill from COVID-19 but has recovered. Violet Angelo is a custodian at TPS and joined the district in 2005.
Former Jenks East Elementary teacher Sandy Majors
From Michael Overall: "My Aunt Sandy — you might remember her as Sandra Majors, Ph.D., who taught for many years at Jenks East Elementary — tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-August."
She died Aug. 28.
QT employee Israel Sauz
Israel Sauz, a 22-year-old Broken Arrow resident, died in April. He left behind a wife of less than one year and their first child, a son born in March, among other family, friends, co-workers and even regular customers at the QuikTrip store where he worked east of downtown Tulsa.
Sauz, known as “Izzy” to some, was a night assistant manager at the QuikTrip at 1022 S. Utica Ave., and his death raised panic and outrage among fellow employees and some customers.
State's first COVID-19 death
A Tulsa County man became the state’s first resident to die from COVID-19 in mid-March, one day after he tested positive for the disease.
Tulsa County health officials said that it also was the first case of community spread in the county. The man was identified by friends and peers as Merle Dry.
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