Oklahoma virus death toll since start of pandemic tops 8,000

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma State Department of Health reports the number of deaths due to COVID-19 has topped 8,000 in the state. The death toll reached 8,023 on Thursday while the total number of virus cases rose by 483 to 442,389.

The rolling average of daily deaths in the state has increased during the past two weeks from 8.9 per day to 245.1.

State epidemiologist Dr. Jared Taylor on Tuesday said the death count would rise because the health department now uses an algorithm to confirm some COVID deaths that do not require human review.