COVID-19 Hospitalizations Rise In Oklahoma Amid Nationwide Surge

COVID-19 hospitalizations are up in Oklahoma and health experts said we are now in the third surge of the pandemic. 

St. Francis said it is once again treating some patients in hallways, as healthcare workers see the Omicron variant start to dominate over Delta.  

The state health department reported Tuesday that 965 people are in Oklahoma hospitals with COVID-19 right now. 

That is about 130 more people than Monday, and it is a number getting the attention of health experts because they said there has not been a spike like this since August.  

"So this was a steep increase just from yesterday, an increase of 130 hospitalizations, in just one day,” Epidemiologist and OU College of Public Health Associate Professor Aaron Wendelboe said.  

"While our admissions are not as high, yet, as what they've been at the peak times in surge one and surge two, let me make this very clear: our hospitals are very full,” Oklahoma Hospital Association President Patti Davis said.  

Tulsa Health Department Executive Director Dr. Bruce Dart put numbers from Tulsa County hospitals in perspective.  

"Two weeks ago we were less than 10 percent of all COVID patient hospital, all patient[s] [in the] hospital with COVID, as of this morning were almost 18 percent of all patients in the hospital having COVID. About 311 patients, so definitely hospitalizations are going up,” Dr. Dart said.  

St. Francis said right now, patients may wait several hours in the ER, and said some patients are being treated in hallways, once again.  

“If there aren't enough private rooms available, yeah, we start overflowing into the hallway,” Saint Francis Health System Chief of Emergency Medicine Dr. Ryan Parker said. “We do what we have to do.” 

The state health department says variant sequencing from over the holidays shows the Omicron variant is making up nearly 60 percent of cases, with Delta still holding strong at about 40 percent.  

The New York Times reports Tulsa ICU beds are 10 percent more full than the national average.