COVID-19 Cases Continue To Surge In Oklahoma, Data Shows

Oklahoma is currently ranked ninth in the nation in terms of new COVID-19 cases per week.

In his COVID-19 update, Dr. Dale Bratzler, of OU Health, said Oklahoma has seen tremendous growth in cases within the past week.

He attributed this to the fact that Oklahoma school districts have started in-person school.

As of Wednesday, there were 1,566 COVID cases in the hospital, including 441 people in the intensive care unit.

Due to the amount of people in the intensive care unit, hospitals will continue to be tied, Bratzler said.

"I think there will be more deaths in the state from COVID,” said Bratzler. “You have to be very sick to be administered into the ICU."

In addition, data from the CDC shows that the community transmission rate across the entire state is at a substantial or extremely high level.

The only area to have a low transmission rate is Harmon County, according to the CDC.

Bratzler recommended everyone to wear masks regardless of vaccination status, practice physical distancing and wash their hands regularly to limit the likelihood of getting the virus or the Delta variant.