COVID-19 Cases Surge In Oklahoma Counties Bordering Missouri, Arkansas

COVID-19 cases are surging in the Missouri and Arkansas counties that border Oklahoma, leading to an increase in cases in some of the state’s counties as well.

A physician at Integris Grove Hospital worries the increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases he’s treating are an indication of another wave of infection, spurred by the Delta variant that has spread in neighboring Missouri and Arkansas.

Dr Samuel Ratermann said on Monday, nine of 10 people admitted Monday were COVID-19 patients, and increasingly, the cases he’s treated are among unvaccinated 18-35-year-olds.

“It's heartbreaking,” Ratermann said. “This disease is close to being completely preventable, at least for severe disease and death. We have the tools to prevent the disease.”

Ratermann said more people are surviving because of new skills and treatments that have become available in the last year, but he wonders why so many people are choosing not to get the vaccine, when the alternative is risking illness and hospitalization.

Just over half of Oklahomans are fully vaccinated, but in far Northeast Oklahoma, the vaccination rate is now about 28%.

“I think it's very reasonable to predict we're going to have another spike in cases, another surge,” said Ratemann.