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OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – Health officials say 15 Oklahomans have died from the novel coronavirus, bringing the state’s death toll to more than 1,600.

On Friday, data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health shows that the state has had 167,261 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since March.

That’s an increase of 2,921 cases.

There were 15 additional deaths caused by the virus, bringing the state’s total number of deaths to 1,603.

A medical worker takes a swab sample from a woman in Madrid, on Thursday while testing for potential coronavirus cases. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images)
A medical worker takes a swab sample from a woman in Madrid, on Thursday while testing for potential coronavirus cases. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images)

Officials say there were 1,428 people in Oklahoma hospitals with either a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 as of Friday.

So far, health officials have not released additional information about active cases, recovered cases, or a county breakdown of cases.

A Nevada man was hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19 a second time.
A Nevada man was hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19 a second time.

Although the CDC recommends patients be tested twice to determine if they have recovered, health department officials say they are preserving tests for patients who are sick.

Instead, the Oklahoma State Department of Health identifies a person as recovered if they are currently not hospitalized or deceased and it has been 14 days since the onset of their symptoms or since they were diagnosed.

This electron microscope image made available and color-enhanced by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Integrated Research Facility in Fort Detrick, Md., shows Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, orange, isolated from a patient. University of Hong Kong scientists claim to have the first evidence of someone being reinfected with the virus that causes COVID-19. They said Monday, Aug. 24, 2020 that genetic tests show a 33-year-old man returning to Hong Kong from a trip to Spain in mid-August had a different strain of the coronavirus than the one he’d previously been infected with in March. (NIAID/National Institutes of Health via AP)
(NIAID/National Institutes of Health via AP)

State officials urge Oklahomans to stay away from ill patients and to frequently wash their hands. Also, avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.

At this point, Americans are urged to practice ‘social distancing’ by staying in their homes as much as possible and not going out into a crowd.

The virus is mainly spread from person-to-person, and symptoms usually appear two to 14 days after exposure. Officials stress that the most common symptoms are fever, cough, and shortness of breath.

If you do become sick, you are asked to stay away from others. If you have been in an area where the coronavirus is known to be spreading or been around a COVID-19 patient and develop symptoms, you are asked to call your doctor ahead of time and warn them that you might have been exposed to the virus. That way, experts say, they have the ability to take extra precautions to protect staff and other patients.

Face masks
Via Unsplash

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