COVID-19 Cases Surging In Oklahoma Due To New Omicron Subvariant

The Oklahoma State Health Department (OSDH) reported more than 8,000 new cases in the last week. OSDH said the new case number could be even higher since it does not include people who are testing at home.

At last check, the seven-day average was just over 1,200 cases.

University of Oklahoma’s (OU) Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler said many of these new infections are due to a new Omicron subvariant called BA-5.

Bratzler said this variant is extremely contagious.

“If you happen to be older, have a chronic underlying medical illness, I strongly encourage to be very careful about their surroundings right now,” he said.

OSDH said in the last 90 days more than a quarter of new cases are being reported by people between 18 and 34 years old.

News 9 was told nearly half of the hospital patients with the coronavirus have been between 65 and 84 years old.

Numbers showing the rate of hospitalizations are not going up as quickly as the number of cases.

Doctors said to minimize your risk, get vaccinated, avoid large crowds and wear a mask.

Tinker Air Force Base is already taking action to do so. Starting Friday, the base will begin requiring all employees and visitors to wear a mask while indoors, and they will require a negative COVID-19 test for unvaccinated visitors and employees.