COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Kay County

Kay County’s active coronavirus case numbers have increased in the last week as the delta variant spreads across the nation.

Data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health on Monday showed that Kay County had 5,405 cases of the virus, 44 of which are active. That number was 12 last week. Officials said 5,233 Kay County residents have recovered from the virus, and 128 have died from it.

The number of active cases remains lower than it did earlier this year. However, as the delta variant spreads, health officials are cautioning people to be vaccinated against the virus.

State officials report that there are 3,955 cases of the virus in Ponca City. Eighty-four people there have died, and 3,836 have recovered. Blackwell has 692 cases, with 661 recoveries and 28 deaths. Newkirk has 453 cases, with 443 recoveries and six deaths.

Braman has 25 cases, with 24 recoveries and one death. Tonkawa has 378 cases, with 362 recoveries and 15 deaths. Kaw City has 65 cases, with 61 recoveries and three deaths.

The state health department does not provide data on coronavirus cases in some of the state’s smallest towns, including Nardin in Kay County.

Earlier this year, the department changed the way it counts coronavirus cases and deaths. The department includes provisional data from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control on its website. Those numbers are higher than the state’s investigated total number of cases.

The department’s investigated numbers show that the state has 466,733 cases of the virus. Of those cases, 5,992 are active. Statewide, 7,454 people have died from it.

The CDC’s provisional numbers show that the state has 472,498 cases of the virus and 8,706 deaths.

More than 1.5 million Oklahomans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The state health department said Monday that more than 1.8 million Oklahomans have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Between 30 and 39.9% of the county is fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

For more information on vaccinations, visit https://oklahoma.gov/covid19/vaccine-information/vaccine-faqs.html.