Seminole Public Schools will be offering free COVID tests to any parents who would like their student to be tested or any staff members before returning to school on Monday, Sept. 13.

Testing will be held on Sunday, Sept. 12 at the Administration building from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. Tests do not need to be scheduled and students must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian. Tests being used are rapid tests and results will be given the day of the test.

Students do not have to be exhibiting symptoms to be tested. If any other Seminole Public School student wishes to be tested, they can show up during the testing time. Students 18 and under will be required to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian to sign test authorization.

The Thursday, Sept. 9 daily COVID report from the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) showed there were 2,462 new cases reported in the state over the previous 24 hours. This brought the 7-day average up to 2,416 cases.

Altogether, there has been a total of 574,685 COVID cases reported in Oklahoma, with a total of 9,415 COVID related deaths.

OSHD released their weekly COVID update on Wednesday, Sept. 8. The update is for the week of Aug. 29 – Sept. 4. This report shows that the State of Oklahoma recorded 18,635 cases during the week, which is a 5.1 percent drop from the 19,645 cases reported for the previous week of Aug. 22 - 28. Unfortunately, there were 208 COVID related deaths during the week, an increase compared to the 189 deaths the previous week.

Seminole County has reported a total of 3,421 COVID cases. 3,217 of these cases have recovered, but 85 have resulted in the patient dying.

The City of Seminole has reported a total of 1,881 positive COVID cases, with 43 deaths and 1,756 recoveries.

Wewoka has reported a total of 797 cases, with 26 deaths and 751 recoveries.

Konawa has reported a total of 470 COVID cases, with 11 deaths and 447 recoveries.

Maud has reported 259 COVID cases, with 1 death and 251 recoveries. Sasakwa has reported a total of 115 COVID cases, with 0 deaths and 114 recoveries.

Cromwell has reported 23 COVID cases with 2 deaths and 21 recoveries.

OSHD states that it is critical for Oklahomans to seek out testing, with or without symptoms. Diagnostic testing is freely available to all Oklahomans, and we continue to improve our ability to find and diagnose COVID-19 cases through our contact tracing efforts. If you are diagnosed with COVID-19, a public health worker may try to contact you; the need to adhere to instructions to quarantine and isolate remain critically important.

Vaccine appointments can be scheduled at the vaccinate.oklahoma.gov website or the vaccines.gov website. For more information visit the oklahoma.gov/ COVID19 website.