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The OU’s COVID official said the increase in cases can be attributed to the Delta variant.
The number nationwide is around 83% of all cases. Dr Dale Bratzler said new studies have shown that the viral load, or the concentration of virus in the blood, is about 1,200 times higher in people with the Delta variant compared to the COVID-19 virus of origin that came out of Wuhan.
He says this is one of the reasons Oklahoma is seeing a 9-fold increase in cases over the past six weeks. He says many of those cases originate from hot spots in Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana. Importantly, these numbers are still well below the January peak, and Bratzler says almost all of them occur in pockets of unvaccinated Oklahomans, especially in the northeastern part of the state.
Bratzler says he believes that as schools open in the coming weeks, the state will experience local epidemics, as children under 12 are not eligible for the vaccine and likely will not be until the start of the year. ‘next year. He says school districts should be cautious and able to adapt.
“I think this outbreak that we’re seeing with Delta is going to be very local,” Bratzler said. “We’re going to see communities that are more affected than others. And I think we’re going to need flexibility to change school policies based on epidemics that may arise.”
Bratzler says many of the people spreading the virus right now are under 35. Almost 75% of Oklahomans under 35 are not vaccinated.
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