Health Officials Raise Alarm As COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations Continue To Trend Upward

Health leaders have sounded the alarm once again as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to trend upward.

They're expecting it to keep going especially with the Omicron variant.

"As of yesterday, there were 441,000 new cases of COVID in the United States," said Dr. Dale Bratzler, OU Health's chief COVID-19 officer. "That is the largest single day case number since the start of the pandemic. I think that is difficult to wrap our minds around."

Bratzler said Oklahoma cases are spiking but it is difficult to tell at the moment if the majority of new cases in the state are Omicron or if they are still Delta.

"Rates of transmission of Omicron vary around the nation so the northeast, New York, New Jersey, those sites, about 89% of all new cases are the Omicron variant. That may not be the case in Oklahoma. I don't know that we know at this point," said Bratzler.

There is good news though.

Bratzler said there are four outpatient treatments that have shown to be effective in treating someone with COVID-19.

One of those treatments are monoclonal antibodies, but with Omicron, not all of them have shown to be as effective, which poses a challenge.

"When you have a patient come in who tested positive, who has symptoms and may be at a high risk, which monoclonal antibody do you give them?" said Bratlzer.

But doctors still have three other: Remdesivir, convalescent plasma and the newest approved treatment, two antiviral pills from Merck and Pfizer.

Bratzler still said the best things to do to protect from getting the virus are to mask up, get vaccinated and boosted when you can, and if you are exposed to someone with COVID-19 or have symptoms, to go get tested.