Oklahoma's COVID-19 situation has vastly improved in recent weeks. All of the state's COVID-19 figures — including hospitalizations, new cases and test positivity rates — are trending down.
That’s a big shift since the late-summer surge, which peaked at the end of August and early September. That's the case nationally, too, as there's been more than a 40 percent drop in new cases since Sept. 1.
Dr. David Kendrick of the Healthier Oklahoma Coalition says one of the best improvements is fewer COVID cases in the state's intensive care units.
"Last week, good news, we did see another week of decline that would make it three weeks of decline in the ICU, which is good news," Kendrick said.
As of Monday, about 700 people were hospitalized for COVID-19, with about 200 in the ICU — about half as many patients reported in early September.
Oklahoma is averaging around 1,200 new infections per day over the last week. That's a significant decrease from an average of 2,300 per day from this time last month.
But Oklahoma's vaccination rate is still far behind most states. Just 48.4 percent of Oklahoma's population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, placing the state in the bottom 12 states for vaccine rollout. It's only grown about three percent in the past month.
Vaccines are available through many doctors and pharmacies, or you can schedule an appointment online at vaccines.gov.
