COVID-19 deaths in Oklahoma remain near their peak even as hospitalizations fall and the delta variant surge subsides after a rapid two-month rise that overwhelmed hospitals.
Another 325 Oklahomans were reported dead of COVID-19 in the past seven days — 46 per day on average. That average is two per day below the high during this surge in mid-September.
The state ranks among the 10 worst in the U.S. for deaths per capita the past seven days, according to federal data Wednesday. Oklahoma’s death rate — 6.6 per 100,000 residents — is more than twice that of the national average — 3.0 deaths per 100,000.
Deaths generally are the final metric to come down from a peak, often lagging a couple of weeks or more behind hospitalizations.
COVID hospitalizations — while dropping precipitously of late — remain a strain on hospitals and still have Oklahoma ranked fourth highest for COVID admissions per inpatient bed.
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Statewide COVID hospitalizations are down 14% from a week ago, or 898 from 1,045, according to the three-day averages released by the state. They have dropped 44% from the late August peak of 1,607.
In Tulsa County, COVID hospitalizations were reported Wednesday at 244, which is 11% lower than 274 a week ago and 52% below the all-time peak of 504 in late August.
About a third of inpatients are in intensive care.
“You can see that we’ve definitely come down, which is — thank God for that,” Dr. Jennifer Clark said Wednesday during her regular COVID presentation for Oklahoma State University’s Project ECHO series. “I will reiterate: My colleagues in the hospital are still experiencing significant difficulty because … this data is not reflective of the prolonged length of stay related to younger people being infected.
“There’s anecdotal reports of this — more people staying for a longer period of time. This is only reflective of those people that are in that 14-day infectious window. We’re missing a whole host of people that are hospitalized due to COVID but that are no longer infectious.”
While new cases have trended downward for about a month, relatively speaking they remain quite elevated.
All but two counties in Oklahoma remain in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s red zone for high levels of viral transmission.
“We’re still high, high, high,” Clark said.
The state ranks 25th for new cases per capita the past seven days.
The seven-day average of new cases was at 1,278 on Wednesday, which is 19% lower than a week ago, when it was at at 1,584, and 54% below this surge’s peak in late August of 2,806.
All available vaccines provide a good deal of protection against the delta variant, but health officials still recommend that vaccinated people take precautions to reduce the possibility of transmission. The CDC recommends that all people regardless of vaccination status wear masks indoors in areas of high transmission.
Oklahoma doctors have urged residents who haven’t yet been vaccinated to prioritize talking with their primary care physicians about their specific reasons for hesitancy. No treatment is 100% effective at preventing COVID-19, but those who are vaccinated and become infected most often have less severe illness.
Those who wish to schedule a COVID-19 vaccination may do so at vaccinate.oklahoma.gov or find other vaccination opportunities at vaccinefinder.org.
By the numbers
The data below are cumulative as of Wednesday:
Tulsa County
Confirmed cases: 104,222
Deaths: 1,482
State of Oklahoma
Confirmed cases: 620,834
Deaths (CDC): 10,533
Breakthrough cases (deaths): 11,703 (148)
Vaccine doses administered: 4,211,321
United States
Cases: 44,044,677
Deaths: 707,545
Vaccine doses administered: 396,293,405
World
Cases: 236,417,248
Deaths: 4,826,935
Vaccine doses administered: 6,364,383,921
Sources: OSDH, CDC, Johns Hopkins University
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