KFOR:
At this point, officials believe there are 11,874 active cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oklahoma has seen 14,223 deaths as of Friday. That’s an increase of 22 deaths since Thursday’s numbers.
Officials say there were 1,067 Oklahomans hospitalized with COVID-19 on average over the past three days. Authorities also noted that there were 55 pediatric hospitalizations for COVID-19 included in that number.
KOCO:
Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, said he’s trying to protect people who want to work but don’t want to be forced into getting the vaccine.
“The individual right is always paramount or at least it should be in our system of government. Whether you’re looking at the Declaration (of Independence) or the Constitution, individual rights are paramount,” Dahm said.
Senate Bill 1157 passed out of committee on Thursday, with eight votes in favor and four against. The bill, which now makes its way to the Senate floor, allows a person to collect unemployment benefits after they’re fired or placed on unpaid leave because of a vaccine mandate.
Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, was one of two Republicans on the committee to vote against the bill.
“I do not agree with private businesses mandating vaccines, but I also don’t agree with state government telling businesses how to operate. Businesses are free to have bad decisions, to make bad decisions,” he said.
KFOR:
On Thursday, data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health shows that the state has had 1,012,168 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since March of 2020.
That’s an increase of 1,614 cases since Wednesday.
At this point, officials believe there are 12,808 active cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oklahoma has seen 14,201 deaths as of Thursday. That’s an increase of 49 deaths since Wednesday’s numbers.
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor named 10 members of the Oklahoma Air National Guard refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19 as he filed an amended lawsuit Tuesday challenging federal vaccine mandates.
The 10 don’t want the vaccine, with three raising religious and secular reasons, according to the new filing. One refusing the vaccine is a physician — an anesthesiologist in Tulsa.
The suit says the Guard members “are patriots who always have given of themselves to their Country and their State; and are now at risk of being turned out of their jobs because they do not wish to take the vaccine.
KTUL:
Oklahoma is number one in the country for veterans, per capita, to receive federal, service-connected disability benefits, according to the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs.
“We have an amazing veterans community here in Oklahoma and this could not have been accomplished without all the veteran service organizations banding together as a team and working really hard to achieve this,” said Joel Kintsel, the executive director of ODVA.
Out of about 300,000 veterans in Oklahoma, 100,000 veterans have some level of a service-connected disability.
KOCO:
The snow and winter weather are moving east across Oklahoma, leaving behind hazardous conditions for drivers.
Snow and wintry precipitation are expected to slow down during the afternoon hours. Temperatures, however, are dropping and will remain low, which won’t allow for the ground or roads to warm up and melt any snow and ice.
Wind chill will reach the teens and single digits Thursday night, and Friday morning will start with slightly warmer wind chills.
KFOR:
On Wednesday, data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health shows that the state has had 1,010,554 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since March of 2020.
That’s an increase of 1,047 cases since Tuesday.
At this point, officials believe there are 14,994 active cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oklahoma has seen 14,152 deaths as of Wednesday. That’s an increase of 73 deaths since Tuesday’s numbers.
Officials say there were 1,145 Oklahomans hospitalized with COVID-19 on average over the past three days. Authorities also noted that there were 58 pediatric hospitalizations for COVID-19 included in that number.
KFOR:
Health leaders are reporting 378 new COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma.
On Tuesday, data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health shows that the state has had 1,009,507 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since March of 2020.
That’s an increase of 378 cases since Monday.
At this point, officials believe there are 18,578 active cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oklahoma has seen 14,079 deaths as of
Tuesday. That’s an increase of 23 deaths since Monday’s numbers.Officials say there were 1,129 Oklahomans hospitalized with COVID-19 on average over the past three days. Authorities also noted that there were 59 pediatric hospitalizations for COVID-19 included in that number.
KFOR:
Our next major storm system will impact Oklahoma Wednesday into Thursday.
This storm will bring lots of well needed moisture to our state.
Expect rain, thunderstorms central and eastern OK with the rain changing to a wintry mix and then snow across northwestern and northern Oklahoma very late Wednesday night ending on Thursday.
KFOR:
Officials say there were 760 new cases on Monday, and 1,523 new cases on Sunday.
At this point, officials believe there are 20,209 active cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oklahoma has seen 14,056 deaths as of
Monday. That’s an increase of 209 deaths since the latest information was released on Saturday.
KFOR:
There is a bill making its way through the Oklahoma State Capitol that would change Oklahoma’s 2019 Open Carry Laws. The author of a new bill says changes are needed in the Oklahoma Self Defense Act to help law enforcement implement gun safety.
“This just simply adds to the language that would help protect police officers at these protests and also just general citizens,” said Sen. Lonnie Paxton, referring to rifles being openly carried in hand with barrel held horizontally.
“I’m a firm believer that the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun, but we do have to have some parameters on how we carry our pistols, how we carry our rifles,” said Paxton.
The bill passed through Senate Committee, 12-0, and will now be eligible for debate on the Oklahoma State Senate floor.
KRMG:
The push to raise a state militia in Oklahoma has hit a major setback.
On Friday, Republicans in the Oklahoma Senate Veterans Committee turned down the idea. The bill’s author said he’ll keep fighting.
Each state has a National Guard, which works under both state and federal control. Some states also have smaller state guards, who work under each state’s governor. Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, said it’s time for Oklahoma to organize a state guard again.
His proposal would set up an Oklahoma State Guard, under the control of someone appointed by the governor. Counties would organize volunteer units across the state. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing something similar there.
KFOR:
Sunny and warm early this week with highs in the 60’s.
Storms move in Wednesday. Some severe weather (large hail, damaging winds) possible for Central and Eastern Oklahoma.
A strong cold front will bring a chance of snow on Thursday for Central Oklahoma.
KFOR:
There are more than 1,400 new COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported 1,458 new COVID cases Saturday.
Oklahoma has had 1,006,846 COVID cases since the pandemic began in March 2020.
Oklahoma has had 13,847 COVID-related deaths since March 2020 as of Friday, Feb. 11.
Representative Mauree Turner of Oklahoma City introduced the bill and said, if passed, it would place the death penalty on the ballot as a state question for Oklahoma voters to decide on.
The bill comes after Oklahoma resumed executions back in October after they were on hold for more than six years.
The last time the death penalty question was on the ballot was in 2016.
KFOR:
Officials are reporting 2,000 additional COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma.
On Friday, data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health shows that the state has had 1,005,388 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since March of 2020.
That’s an increase of 2,230 cases since Thursday’s numbers.
At this point, officials believe there are 29,565 active cases of COVID-19 in Oklahoma.
The Oklahoma Army National Guard is being recognized for its performance while deployed overseas.
The U.S. Army awarded the “Meritorious Unit Commendation” to 27 soldiers for their role in disrupting ISIS operations and liberating Mosul.
The Guard said this award is the equivalent to an individual soldier earning the “Legion of Merit.”
Troy Aikman isn’t waiting until Sunday’s Super Bowl to score with his hometown fans.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer and NFL broadcaster has revealed more of the lineup for his inaugural “Troy Aikman’s Highway to Henryetta” music festival, set for June 11 in Henryetta.
A 1984 Henryetta High School graduate, Aikman announced at an October pep rally at his alma mater that Tishomingo-based country music superstar Blake Shelton would be the headliner for the fest.
Now, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback has thrown out the names of several other country music acts on the lineup to perform at the event.
KFOR:
It’s going to be a colder weekend as a cold front sweeps southeast across our state late Friday. Winds will be pick up from the north later Friday and become strong and gusty behind the front. Temps near 60 Friday afternoon fall into the upper 20s to lower 30s by Saturday morning. The wind will make it feel colder! Partly cloudy Saturday highs only upper 30s to mid 40s. Temps start to rebound by Sunday afternoon with much milder conditions early next week. Then a strong wet storm system is still heading this way for Wednesday and Thursday.
The state’s weekly case rate per 100,000 people is 491, according to federal data. The delta surge’s peak in late August was 495, while the omicron surge’s peak was 2,086 on Jan. 24.
“We’re still pretty high,” Bratzler said, adding that case numbers reported later in the week might be more accurate as testing picks up.
Similarly to cases, hospitalizations are falling but remain quite high — still above the delta peak. And COVID-19 deaths reported in Oklahoma are peaking now as the last indicator in a surge.
