Active Covid-19 Cases Slump Statewide, Deaths Show Uptick

The Oklahoma State Department of Health figures for Aug. 11 show 44,728 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in the state, up 765 since the onset of the pandemic in the United States. There are 6,917 active cases, down 63 since the last report. Of those, 530 are hospitalized.

There have been 13 additional deaths reported, three in the past 24 hours. This brings the state death toll to 618. There have been 37,193 recoveries, up 815 since the last report.

Blaine County has logged 45 cases since March, when the statistics began being kept. Of those, 37 cases are recovered, leaving eight active cases in the county. The state department of health website shows one active case in Geary, and seven in Watonga. It also shows one active case in each Hydro and Longdale, but either of those cases could be in adjacent counties, skewing the numbers slightly.

Nationally, there have been 5,094,400 cases verified, up 49,536 from the previous report, resulting in 163,463 deaths, up 525 from the last report. There are 3,260,182 active cases, up 35,120 since the last report, while 1,670,755 patients are reported as recovered, up 13,891. These numbers are from Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, the Oklahoma State Department of Health is expanding contact tracing efforts in Oklahoma with the launch of a new COVID-19 contact tracing and case investigation call center. The contact trace is to get in touch with those who might have been exposed and ask them to test and quar antine.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is not showing signs of slowing down, and the vaccine is still in a testing phase. Contact tracing is a proven way to mitigate the spread of a contagious disease and help get it under control,” said Interim Health Commissioner Lance Frye, M.D. “The successful launch of this call center is a major win in Oklahoma’s battle against this novel coronavirus. The work done here is mission critical for the long-term health and safety of all Oklahomans.”

The call center has more than 400 staff professionally trained in contact tracing and case investigation working active COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma, a cost covered by federal aid through the CARES Act.

Call center staff are responsible for the investigation of COVID-19 with responsibilities that include: direct client interviews, delivering guidance on testing, quarantine and home isolation, disease control intervention and education activities, and documenting key information for studying and understanding the local epidemic.

Call center case investigators can work up to 400 active COVID-19 cases per day in total, depending on the need for support by the local county health departments. In addition to this call center, OSDH also has approximately 150 additional employees (full-time and temporary) engaged in contact tracing and case investigation at the local county health departments. This figure does not include Oklahoma City-County or Tulsa Health Departments who each manage their own contact tracing teams.

Be aware legitimate contact tracing partners will never ask for payment or bank account information. If the caller requests this information, it is a scam and should be reported to authorities.

Connie Burcham can be reached at Editor@WatongaRepublican.com