With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations having fallen dramatically in Oklahoma, the state Health Department is preparing to make changes to how it approaches the pandemic response.
Interim health commissioner Keith Reed said Thursday that the department is preparing to begin a transition “into the endemic phase of this pandemic.”
The state has seen a rapid decline in COVID-19 cases after the omicron variant spurred a dramatic surge, with more Oklahomans than ever infected with the virus. Hospitalizations have also declined.
A month ago, COVID-19 hospitalizations neared 2,000, and there were over 67,000 Oklahomans with active infections. As of Friday, there were about 3,100 active infections in the state and 491 hospitalizations.
As part of the shift, the Health Department plans to scale down how frequently it reports COVID-19 data.