COVID-19 cases are continuing a downhill trend. More people are getting vaccinated against the virus, whether it be Moderna, Piezer, or the Johnson and Johnson one dose shot, it seems to be working. According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH), as of March 23, 2021, 811,288 persons have received the first dose of the vaccine and 448,289 have completed the series of shots.
Across the U.S., the virus has attacked a total of 29,869,514 and taken the lives of 542,949, over a half a million people have lost their lives.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported on Friday 416 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total to 434,491.The state's seven-day average of new cases, which shows the trend in infections, fell from 447 to 446. The record of 4,256 was set Jan. 13. It has remained under 1,000 since Feb. 19.
The state health department has started reporting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's provisional death count in its daily updates. That count is based on death certificates entered into a vital statistics system and is updated on weekdays. As of Friday, the CDC counted 7,673 Oklahomans dead from COVID-19, an increase of 29 from Thursday.
The state health department reported 578 additional patients as recovered on Thursday, bringing the total to 417,734. Patients are considered to have recovered if they did not die, are not currently hospitalized and it has been at least 14 days since their symptoms began. Symptoms have been reported to linger for several weeks for some individuals.
Health officials are keeping a close eye on Oklahoma’s COVID-19 cases in case of a possible surge after spring break. Several factors make it hard to say whether Oklahomans should expect to see an increase in cases after spring break. Now is not the time to back down and not wear our masks or sanitize our hands regularly, even though you have had the vaccine. Now that the cases are on the decline, we must continue on that path and get this virus behind us.