Health Professionals Reflect, Look Toward Future After 1 Year Of COVID-19 In Oklahoma

Saturday marks one year since a Tulsa man was the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Oklahoma.

On Friday, doctors at OU Health are looking back at fighting the virus and looking ahead at what the future might hold. More than 425,000 Oklahomans have now had COVID-19, and doctors say they've learned a lot in the past year.

OU Health held a roundtable discussion with infectious disease experts and doctors.

They discussed the fear of the unknown and what it felt like when the first cases started showing up in the United States. They also talked about how much they've learned in the past year like different mitigation strategies and ways the virus spreads.

Doctors also talked about the future and believe we are through the worst of it, as more than 50 percent of Oklahomans now have some form of immunity.

They caution to still be careful, as there's a lot of unknown about the different variants and how vaccines will react to some of them.

"We're headed the right direction right now,” said Dr. Dale Bratzler. “The case counts are way down. Even the number of tests that are coming back positive has come way down. So, it's good news but I put caveats on that. A variant strain that starts spreading could turn that around."

Doctors said they will be studying this virus for years to come.