Cases of the novel coronavirus in Oklahoma continue to climb, with the state reporting a record 478 new infections on June 21, the highest daily case count since the outbreak began, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.
A record single-day rise of 143 new cases was also reported Sunday in Tulsa County, according to the latest data from the Tulsa Health Department.
The latest figures bring the total confirmed cases in the state to at least 10,516, as of Monday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Tulsa County's seven-day rolling average of new cases has been on a sharp incline from June 1 to June 21, increasing from 13.7 to 112.1, respectively, according to the latest report from the Tulsa Health Department.
The state's daily case count has been on a mostly increasing trend from around June 6 to June 21, rising from 52 to 478 daily new cases, respectively, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Oklahoma's stay-at-home order expired on May 6, but some businesses were allowed to reopen from April 24 with restrictions, including dining and entertainment venues as well as personal care services.
Concerns over a spike in cases were raised by health experts in the lead up to Trump's Saturday rally in Tulsa, which was the president's first rally since the outbreak began. Large-scale political rallies were paused in March due to the threat of spreading infection among crowds.
Last week, the daily seven-day average number of new COVID-19 cases per million in Oklahoma rose by 140.3 percent in the week ending June 18, from the figure reported the previous week, according to research by Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and public health scientist at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. He is also a member of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) COVID-19 Rapid Response Task Force.
COVID-19 has an incubation period that ranges from around 4 to 5 days from exposure up to about 14 days, according to the CDC. Although Saturday's rally was not the cause of the most recent spike, experts fear it will make matters worse in coming weeks.
Speaking to Newsweek, Feigl-Ding said Friday: "I do think there is a high risk of the Trump rally in Tulsa increasing risk [of further spreading the virus]," noting how serious the threat of increased infection across the country could be as a result of Saturday's rally.
Last week, a physician and an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School, Peter Drobac, told Newsweek: "If you tried to design a superspreader event for COVID-19, it would look a lot like one of these rallies.
"It's perfectly designed to foster the spread of a respiratory virus. I worry about the risk to attendees, to their loved ones, and to the president," he added.
The novel coronavirus, which was first reported in Wuhan, China, has infected more than 8.9 million people across the globe, including over 2.2 million in the U.S. More than 4.4 million globally have reportedly recovered from infection, while over 468,500 have died, as of Wednesday, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.
The graphics below, provided by Statista, illustrate the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. and the worst-affected countries.
The graphic below, provided by Statista, illustrates the percentage of COVID-19-related hospitalizations, ICU (intensive care unit) admissions and deaths in the U.S.
Correction: This headline and story has been corrected to remove a link between the spike in coronavirus cases and Trump's Saturday rally.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in travel and health.
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