For the first time since February, Oklahoma hospitals are housing more than 1,000 COVID-19 patients.
The number of COVID inpatients in the state had peaked at nearly 2,000 in late December and then declined drastically as vaccinations became available.
The numbers held relatively steady at a low of about 100 in May before rising again, a move that health officials largely attribute to the delta variant’s taking an unmitigated path of assault through a still-largely unvaccinated population.
Two months ago, Oklahoma had about 1,000 active documented cases of COVID-19. More than 18,000 were active Wednesday.
The state’s seven-day average of daily new COVID-19 cases continued a climb to reach 2,031 last week, when 14,214 new cases of COVID were confirmed across the state. That’s about 2,000 more cases than the week before.
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Tulsa County’s seven-day average of new daily cases increased to 363, with 2,542 new cases recorded last week. Nearly 4,000 cases are active in the region.
The state also surpassed a cumulative case count of half a million, reporting 503,552 total documented cases since the pandemic began.
It remains on the federal government’s short list of poor pandemic performance in at least three categories over the past seven days: test positivity, documented cases per capita and virus hospitalizations per capita.
Oklahoma has the third-highest test positivity rate in the nation — 20.7% — and ranks ninth for new cases per capita, with about 267 cases per 100,000 residents.
The state ranks fifth in confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 inpatient beds: 14.7, according to the latest data available as of Monday.
About 1,102 COVID patients have been hospitalized in the state recently, with 294 of them in intensive care. Forty-nine of the hospitalizations are pediatric, according to State Health Department data.
Tulsa County hospitals had about 436 COVID-19 patients, with 136 in intensive care. The peak for Tulsa County hospitalizations was in mid-January, at 468.
More than 1.6 million Oklahomans out of approximately 4 million are fully vaccinated. White House data indicates that 49% of Oklahomans have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, with 41% fully vaccinated.
All available vaccines provide a good deal of protection — but not 100% protection — against the delta variant. Health officials still recommend that vaccinated people take precautions to reduce the possibility of transmission. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors in areas of high transmission.
As of Wednesday, 18,072 documented cases were active in Oklahoma, with 3,269 vaccine-breakthrough infections, up from 2,514 a week earlier. About 190 of those originated since Aug. 1.
About 238 vaccinated people have been hospitalized with breakthrough infections, and 35 have died since tracking began, according to the state’s most recent epidemiology report.
Virus sequencing data indicate that the delta variant accounts for 70.8% of cases in Oklahoma, about the same as the 70.5% over the previous week.
A new Oklahoma case of the gamma variant, potentially even more transmissible and resistant to current vaccines, was reported last week, bringing the total to 20 specimens that tested positive for the mutation of latest concern.
Oklahoma doctors have advised residents who haven’t yet been vaccinated to talk with their primary care physicians about the risks and benefits of getting vaccinated. No treatment is 100% effective at preventing COVID-19, but those who are vaccinated and still become infected tend to have less severe illness, experts have said.
About 31% of Oklahoma’s 12-17 population have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 62% of those over 18 have. More than 86% of those over 65 have received at least one dose.
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: 85,186
Deaths: 1,180
State of Oklahoma
Confirmed cases: 503,552
Deaths (CDC): 8,805
Vaccine doses administered: 3,484,925
United States
Cases: 36,161,204
Deaths: 618,778
Vaccine doses administered: 351,512,207
World
Cases: 204,508,696
Deaths: 4,321,094
Vaccine doses administered: 4,522,776,596
Sources: OSDH, CDC, Johns Hopkins University
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