OSDH: State sees more yellow counties as Garfield County stays green

Jun. 17—Although Garfield County is still "green," Oklahoma is seeing more "yellow" counties this week.

According to Oklahoma State Department of Health's COVID-19 Risk Level System, two of Oklahoma 77 counties are in the moderate, or "orange," risk level, 45 are in the low, or "yellow," risk level and 30, including Garfield County, are in the new normal, or "green," risk level.

Last week, there were two counties in the moderate risk level, 33 counties in the low risk level and 42 in the new normal risk level.

Love and Ottawa were the two counties in the "orange" category.

Garfield County saw green five weeks ago for the first time since OSDH began releasing county risk level trends and reported 1.2 cases per 100,000.

Of the 18 Northwest Oklahoma counties, Beaver, Cimarron, Custer, Dewey, Ellis, Garfield, Grant, Harper, Kingfisher, Major, Roger Mills, Washita and Woodward are in the "green" category, and Alfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Texas and Woods were in the "yellow" category.

Weekly numbers

Oklahoma gained 996 COVID-19 cases and 29 deaths in the past week, according to Oklahoma State Department of Health on Wednesday.

OSDH showed 455,145 total cases from CDC provisional state data, including 216 from Wednesday, and 454,884 total cases with OSDH disease investigation summary. Of the latter number, there were 1,291 active, an increase of 101 in the past week. OSDH is no longer reporting recovered cases.

OSDH's weekly numbers — which OSDH acute disease service reports to the CDC — on Wednesday showed Oklahoma has 7,354 confirmed deaths, though the CDC/NCHS' Provisional Death Count, which is based on death certificates and is OSDH's primary reported number, placed the overall count in Oklahoma at 8,502 deaths, a weekly increase of 49, in which the coronavirus was the cause or a contributor.

There have been 106 hospitalizations in the past week, bringing the total to 26,701, and according to OSDH's Situation Update, there is a three-day average of 122 total COVID-19 hospitalizations, 43 of which are in the ICU, across the state. There are no hospitalizations in Northwest Oklahoma.

Cases in Garfield County increased by five in the past week for a total of 7,820, with five active, the same as last week, and 7,676, or 98.2%, recovered, according to OSDH. The majority of the cases — 6,919, or 88.5% — have been in Enid, which reported five active cases and 6,786 recovered.

Of the county's 139 deaths, 128 have been in Enid, according to OSDH city data, with five in Lahoma, one each in Drummond, Fairmont, Garber, Covington and Waukomis and one not listed by town. Deaths listed by ZIP code on the OSDH website has Enid with 126 deaths.

There have been 3,060 cases, with 2,990 recovered and 68 deaths, from the 73701 ZIP code, primarily the eastern half of Enid, and 3,766 cases, with 3,705 recovered and 58 deaths, from 73703, or the western half, according to OSDH data on Wednesday. There were 41 recovered cases in the 73705 ZIP code, listed as Vance Air Force Base.

Other Northwest Oklahoma county case increases in the past week include three in Woods and one each in Alfalfa, Blaine and Major. No cases were reported in Grant, Kingfisher, Noble and Woodward counties.

Epidemiology report

According to OSDH's Weekly Epidemiology Report, which is released every Wednesday, COVID-19 cases saw an increase of 41.9% in the numbers of reported cases compared with the previous week.

From June 6-12, 996 cases were reported, an increase of 294 from the week before, May 30 through June 5, which had 702. The number of deaths this week was 29, an increase of 20 from the previous week.

OSDH reported 34% of the cases were people aged 50 and older, and 95% of the deaths were in that same age group.

COVID-19 patient hospitalizations remained at 5.9% statewide in a week-to-week comparison. Since the first case was confirmed in Oklahoma in March 2020, the number of admissions to state hospitals was at 26,701, according to the report.

Nationally, Oklahoma ranks 11th out of all states and the District of Columbia in the cumulative incidence of reported COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population, the same spot as last week. The state ranks 26th in the total number of reported COVID-19 cases, the same spot as last week, and 26th in total number of reported COVID-19 deaths, also the same spot as last week.

From June 6-12, 14,364 specimens were tested. Of those, 989, or 3.7%, were positive. The death rate for total overall positive cases remained at 1.6%.

From June 8-14, 104,984 vaccine doses were administered in the state, an increase of 74,675 compared with the week before. The total number of vaccines administered was 2,585,568 with 1,219,323 fully vaccinated.

In Garfield County, 38.4% of people 12 and older have received the first dose of the vaccine, and 73.7% of people 65 and older have received theirs.

According to OSDH, 32.3% of people 12 and older in Garfield County have completed the series, along with 63.9% of those 65 and older who have also been fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 data per other Northwest Oklahoma counties released Wednesday by OSDH:

—Woodward with 3,170 cases, 3,134 recovered, none active and 36 deaths, 27 from Woodward, six from Mooreland, two from Fort Supply and one from Sharon.

—Kingfisher with 2,058 cases, 2,017 recovered, none active and 41 deaths, 21 from Kingfisher, 12 from Hennessey, four from Okarche — which Kingfisher shares with Canadian County — two from Dover and two not listed by town.

—Noble with 1,380 cases, 1,360 recovered, none active and 20 deaths, including 12 from Perry, three from Billings, two from Marland and Red Rock and one from Morrison.

—Woods with 1,219 cases, 1,186 recovered, 15 active and 18 deaths, 16 from Alva and two not listed by town.

—Alfalfa with 1,155 cases, 1,147 recovered, one active and seven deaths, with city data listing three from Carmen, two each from Aline and Helena and one each from Cherokee and Jet. City data encompasses rural towns that could include those residing in neighboring counties, which could cause the discrepancy.

—Blaine with 1,048 cases, 1,027 recovered, one active and 20 deaths, six from Okeene, three from Canton and one each from Longdale and Watonga. Seven are listed in Hydro, which Blaine shares with Caddo County, and four in Geary, which Blaine shares with Canadian.

—Major with 956 cases, 931 recovered, one active and 24 deaths, 17 from Fairview, two each from Cleo Springs and Ringwood and three not listed by town.

—Grant with 549 cases, 542 recovered, none active and seven deaths, three from Wakita and one each from Deer Creek, Lamont, Medford and Nash.

Kelci McKendrick is police and court reporter for the Enid News & Eagle.

Have a question about this story? Do you see something we missed? Do you have a story idea for Kelci? Send an email to kelcim@enidnews.com.