OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Oklahoma has surpassed 100 deaths due to COVID-19 and has 115 additional cases of the coronavirus, the Oklahoma State Department of Health reported Tuesday.
The number of deaths rose from 99 on Monday to 108, and the number of total cases increased from 2,069 to 2,184, according to the health department.
The deaths include one person in the 18 to 35 age range while the other eight were 65 or older, the age group that makes up 88 of the deaths in the state.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
Oklahoma and Tulsa counties, the state’s two largest counties, each reported 19 deaths and 17 are reported in Cleveland County.
CRITICAL TIME
The state health department has forecast the peak of the virus to be about April 21 with more than 900 people hospitalized, and more than 450 in intensive care.
“This time is crucial for staying home as much as possible and limiting social contact,” Tulsa City/County Health Department Director Bruce Dart said Tuesday.
Dart said there is also a concern that the virus could wane in the heat of summer, then return during in the fall or winter in a wave similar to the Spanish flu, which spread from early 1918 to late 1920 and killed over 50 million worldwide.
“I think that’s a reality that we all need to expect,” Dart said, “We won’t be past it yet, even if numbers start to diminish now, even if we flatten the curve now, especially if this is a seasonal … disease we’ll be talking about this again in the fall and winter.”
UNEMPLOYMENT
The number of Oklahomans applying for unemployment assistance has skyrocketed by 2,000% since the virus first appeared in the state in early March, according Oklahoma Employment Security Commission director Robin Roberson.
Unemployment applications jumped from 1,500 to 2,000 per week in early March to now about 45,000 per week, Roberson said during a telephone town hall hosted by U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
Businesses deemed non-essential were closed statewide until April 30 and the elderly and medically vulnerable were told to stay indoors until April 30 under an executive order issued by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
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