Oklahoma COVID deaths drop dramatically after deadly weekend

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma health officials reported a dramatic decline in the number of COVID-19 deaths on Monday after a deadly weekend in which more than 100 deaths were reported.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported four new deaths and 1,040 confirmed new cases of the coronavirus. The numbers are a steep drop from the near-record 51 deaths reported Saturday and 52 reported on Sunday.

The state’s death count from COVID-19 now stands at 3,817 and the total number of confirmed cases is nearly 405,000. Oklahoma’s 7-day rolling averages of positivity rate, daily new cases and daily deaths have all declined over the last two weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The 7-day rolling average of daily deaths in Oklahoma declined from 41.71 deaths per day on Jan. 24 to 38 deaths per day on Feb. 7, the data shows.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Oklahoma also is continuing to decline from record-high levels in late December and early January, according to health department data.