Carter County's COVID cases up 191.9%; Oklahoma cases surge 157.5%

Mike Stucka
·3 min read

New coronavirus cases leaped in Oklahoma in the week ending Sunday, rising 157.5% as 73,796 cases were reported. The previous week had 28,655 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Oklahoma ranked 13th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 5.8% from the week before, with 5,438,242 cases reported. With 1.19% of the country's population, Oklahoma had 1.36% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 39 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Many counties did not report during data during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, disrupting the latest week's statistics. That data is being compared to a week with backlogged cases and deaths from the New Year's holiday weekend. Week-to-week comparisons are skewed and these numbers will be unreliable even as they're accurate to what states reported.

Carter County reported 540 cases in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 185 cases. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 10,350 cases.

Oklahoma does not directly publish county-level death data.

Within Oklahoma, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Marshall County with 2,156 cases per 100,000 per week; Cleveland County with 1,972; and Major County with 1,861. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Oklahoma County, with 13,395 cases; Tulsa County, with 7,572 cases; and Cleveland County, with 5,602. Weekly case counts rose in 65 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Oklahoma, Tulsa and Cleveland counties.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Oklahoma ranked 30th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 67.2% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 74.6%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Wednesday, Oklahoma reported administering another 80,048 vaccine doses, including 28,830 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 71,478 vaccine doses, including 24,728 first doses. In all, Oklahoma reported it has administered 5,443,727 total doses.

Across Oklahoma, cases fell in 11 counties, with the best declines in Wagoner County, with 829 cases from 1,553 a week earlier; in Osage County, with 376 cases from 419; and in Rogers County, with 747 cases from 780.

In Oklahoma, 183 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 173 people were reported dead.

A total of 811,389 people in Oklahoma have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 12,775 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 65,699,947 people have tested positive and 850,605 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Oklahoma's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Jan. 16.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 3,243

  • The week before that: 2,254

  • Four weeks ago: 1,520

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 203,221

  • The week before that: 185,954

  • Four weeks ago: 90,739

Hospitals in 41 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 35 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 43 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

A line of cars wait for drive through COVID testing in Ardmore on Thursday, Jan. 13.
A line of cars wait for drive through COVID testing in Ardmore on Thursday, Jan. 13.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Ardmoreite: Carter County COVID cases increased by 540 and deaths by one this week