Officials: 501 new COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Health officials say there were 501 additional COVID-19 cases reported in Oklahoma.

On Wednesday, data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health shows that the state has had 436,135 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since March of 2020.

That’s an increase of 501 cases.

State health officials say they are now including the CDC’s number of COVID-19 deaths as a provisional count.

COVID-19 death discrepancy: OSDH adds CDC numbers to daily report  

As a result of that inclusion, the deaths jumped to 7,727 on Wednesday.

Officials say there are 240 Oklahomans hospitalized with COVID-19 right now.

During a new conference on Tuesday, health leaders announced that almost 1.7 million Oklahomans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Officials announced that they were changing the way they provide COVID-19 data to the public. As a result, many of the categories will not be available on a daily basis.

Here is a link to the most recent Epidemiology Report provided by the state.

State officials urge Oklahomans to stay away from ill patients and to frequently wash their hands. Also, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

At this point, Americans are urged to practice ‘social distancing’ by staying in their homes as much as possible and not going out into a crowd.

The virus is mainly spread from person-to-person, and symptoms usually appear two to 14 days after exposure. Officials stress that the most common symptoms are fever, cough, and shortness of breath.

If you do become sick, you are asked to stay away from others. If you have been in an area where the coronavirus is known to be spreading or been around a COVID-19 patient and develop symptoms, you are asked to call your doctor ahead of time and warn them that you might have been exposed to the virus. That way, experts say, they have the ability to take extra precautions to protect staff and other patients.