Since the first case of COVID 19 was reported in Oklahoma on March 7, 2020, there have been 486,232 cases reported by the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) as of Thursday. The first COVID death was reported in Tulsa on March 18, and OSDH reports this number has since grown to 7,531 deaths.

Closer to home, a total of 2,968 COVID cases have been reported in Seminole County as of Wednesday, resulting in 78 deaths. Most of these cases were reported in the City of Seminole, where 1,577 COVID cases have resulted in 40 deaths. Wewoka has reported 722 cases resulting in 24 deaths. In Konawa, there were 419 cases reported, with 9 deaths. Cromwell reported 21 cases with 2 deaths. Bowlegs had 19 reported cases with 1 death. Maud reported 223 cases with 0 deaths. Sasakwa had a total of 108 reported cases with 0 deaths.

Earlier this year it appeared that COVID-19 cases were starting to drop, but a new surge, fueled by the highly contagious delta variant first identified in India late last year, is causing the number of cases to climb again. The delta variant appears to cause more severe illness than earlier variants and spreads much easier. The variant has been reported to be able to infect a small number of the vaccinated people in what is known as “breakthrough cases,” although they report much milder symptoms. About half of states report data on Covid-19 breakthrough cases, and in each of those states, less than 1% of fully vaccinated people had a breakthrough infection, ranging from 0.01% in Connecticut to 0.9% in Oklahoma.

A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis also found that more than 90% of cases -- and more than 95% of hospitalizations and deaths -- have been among unvaccinated people. In most states, more than 98% of cases were among the unvaccinated.

On Wednesday the health department announced that they are changing the way they report COVID-19 deaths in an effort to show a “more timely” picture of the disease’s impact in Oklahoma. Moving forward, OSDH officials said they will include the provisional death count provided by CDC/NCHS in the daily updates.

According to the CDC, provisional death counts deliver the most complete and accurate picture of lives lost to COVID-19. They are based on death certificates, which are the most reliable source of data and contain information not available anywhere else, including comorbid conditions, race and ethnicity and place of death.

The OSDH weekly report released on Wednesday for July 25 – 31 stated Oklahoma currently ranks 24th in the number of total reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and 8th in the cumulative incidence (per 100,000 persons) of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S.

The state risk level map shows Seminole County has joined the majority of other counties in the orange, or moderate-risk level, with 24.1 cases per 100,000 people. This moderate risk phase means many COVID-19 positive cases are present in the community with undetected cases likely. The risk of infection is heightened by community spread, and robust testing and containment measures are recommended to mitigate further spread.

Only two counties are in the lowest “new normal” green level, and six counties are in the “low” yellow level. These lower levels are all located in the panhandle and western edge of the state. There are no high-risk counties on the map. Craig County reported the highest rate in the state at 104.0 per 100,000 people.