COVID-19 cases pass 220 in Kay County

by Jordan Green

Kay County has more than 220 active coronavirus cases, health officials reported Monday.

Data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health on Monday showed that Kay County had 6,098 cases of the virus, 223 of which are active. Officials said 5,739 Kay County residents have recovered from the virus, and 136 have died from it.

State officials report that there have been 4,412 cases of the virus in Ponca City since the pandemic began. Ninety people there have died, and 4,159 have recovered. Blackwell has had 822 cases, with 762 recoveries and 30 deaths. Newkirk has had 509 cases, with 485 recoveries and seven deaths.

Braman has had 30 cases, with 27 recoveries and one death. Tonkawa has had 426 cases, with 398 recoveries and 15 deaths. Kaw City has had 78 cases, with 71 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.

The increasing number of coronavirus cases across the region has left some hospitals filled to capacity. Stillwater Medical Center – Blackwell reported Friday that all six of its hospital beds were in use. Four were occupied by patients with COVID-19.

The higher number of cases caused two area school districts to temporarily close or switch to distance learning at the end of August, school officials said. Medford Public Schools in Grant County switched to distance learning, and Wellington Public Schools in Sumner County, Kansas, temporarily closed as students and staff were forced to quarantine just weeks into the fall semester.

Both districts were expected to resume in-person learning Tuesday.

The City of Stillwater is under a state of emergency by the order of the mayor. The college town has seen a large increase in the number of coronavirus cases in recent weeks, officials said.

The state health department reports that the state has had 550,239 cases of the virus. Of those cases, 26,640 are active. Statewide, 8,001 people have died from the virus.

More than 1.7 million Oklahomans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The state health department said Monday that more than 2.1 million Oklahomans have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

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