666 new cases today. Last two Wednesdays were 597 and 670, respectively.

19 additional deaths reported, 2nd highest number ever.

Both Stephanie Bice and Terry Neese had large indoor watch parties where almost no one was wearing a mask, including our governor.

Not only is this an unbelievable lack of leadership, but how is this not against the current laws?

It's probably goes back to the same old problem. Why mask up when you don't know of anyone who got so sick with the virus they had to admitted to the hospital, much less died from it. I wonder if Gov. Stitt would have masked up had he been sick enough with the virus to be in the hospital for at least a few days. Or would he still say he didn't have to because he had the virus?

where can you find the deaths by age group?

where can you find the deaths by age group?

Here: https://looker-dashboards.ok.gov/embed/dashboards/76

It's an ordinance which is a law.

Again, a law that is not being enforced is merely a suggestion. It isn't really being enforced, so not really a law. Just saying.

Regardless of whether it was a law or not, you'd think our leaders, most of whom at least publicly have encouraged mask wearing, would go out of their way to wear masks themselves, even in situations where they may not be required, in order to continue to set an example.

They won't do it out of fear of looking sickly and cowardly before the voting public.

Again, a law that is not being enforced is merely a suggestion. It isn't really being enforced, so not really a law. Just saying.

You are completely wrong.

And of course it's being enforced. Hundreds of businesses won't let you in without a mask.

Again, a law that is not being enforced is merely a suggestion. It isn't really being enforced, so not really a law. Just saying.

It is a law and there are proscribed penalties. People who are running to represent our city in Congress should follow the laws of the city. Perhaps Bice will try to appeal to the anti-mask crowd, but that is a minority.

Our governor was at Bice's watch party, no mask, huddled in large groups, taking photos with his arms around people.

This was at the OK Homebuilders facility on Britton near Broadway Extension, so within OKC city limits.

Neese and her crew were just as bad.

Great example.

What's going on in Enid, rather than apparent lack of mask wear? Today it jumped the chart to no. 7 city. Stillwater peaked out at 8 in June, now 10, but in a good position to move back up from not being far behind.

Just yesterday Jones showed photos of Democrats and said they looked crazy like Charles Manson. Then he interviewed a rough, scary looking pro Trump character, who I wouldn't want to see come around my front door.

666 new cases today. Last two Wednesdays were 597 and 670, respectively.

19 additional deaths reported, 2nd highest number ever.

19 deaths!

You are completely wrong.

And of course it's being enforced. Hundreds of businesses won't let you in without a mask.

Completely? Not really. They don't want you calling the police to report non-mask wearing. So yeah, is it truly being enforced by the police? Only if it becomes an incident. Sure, businesses won't allow you in, but you aren't going to jail for not wearing it. And a $10 fine? Big deal. It is no more a law than "not promoting a horse tripping event" is in Oklahoma. A law in name only, not practice, by the police.

It is a law and there are proscribed penalties. People who are running to represent our city in Congress should follow the laws of the city. Perhaps Bice will try to appeal to the anti-mask crowd, but that is a minority.

A law with no penalties. What, a $10 fine? Or less. A law in name, but not really in practice..

What's going on in Enid, rather than apparent lack of mask wear? Today it jumped the chart to no. 7 city. Stillwater peaked out at 8 in June, now 10, but in a good position to move back up from not being far behind.

Putnam City was set to play a football game at Enid on Friday, and PC Schools cancelled the game because Enid is now a hotspot.

Enid merely scheduled Madill to play instead.

A law with no penalties. What, a $10 fine? Or less. A law in name, but not really in practice..

You could say the same about almost every law on the books.

You are really arguing against common sense.

What's going on in Enid, rather than apparent lack of mask wear? Today it jumped the chart to no. 7 city. Stillwater peaked out at 8 in June, now 10, but in a good position to move back up from not being far behind.

I have some clients there. They have a meat packing plant and other sites that could be the sources, but it is just widespread community spread in a community of covidiots. They haven't been able to get a mask mandate passed. No social distancing to speak of. People not wearing masks. Unabashed school openings, which appear also to be related to the current spike they are seeing.

I think the incident at Sprouts in Edmond was more of , if you don't comply with store policy then leave and the person did not want to leave. I was in there yesterday and one person kept their mask barely covering their mouth. I told an employee who did have a package of desposable masks with him. He talked to the person. And no sooner then when he left they went back to wearing it the same way. He repeatedly talked to them. He was trying not to turn it into an incident. I feel sorry for the poor employees. If i can make a small recommendation to everyone, if you see a store employee in line buying snacks or their lunch, offer to pay for it for them as a thank you.

Our governor was at Bice's watch party, no mask, huddled in large groups, taking photos with his arms around people.

This was at the OK Homebuilders facility on Britton near Broadway Extension, so within OKC city limits.

Neese and her crew were just as bad.

Great example.

Film clips of the watch party for the OK County Sheriff were the same.

I doubt it is political. CDC has never really catered to Trump.

CDC was pressured 'from the top down' to change coronavirus testing guidance, official says (https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/26/politics/cdc-coronavirus-testing-guidance/index.html)

(CNN)A sudden change in federal guidelines on coronavirus testing came this week as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, a federal health official close to the process tells CNN.

CDC was pressured 'from the top down' to change coronavirus testing guidance, official says (https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/26/politics/cdc-coronavirus-testing-guidance/index.html)

Well, that's unfortunate.

I guess now the plan is to actively work against a solution.

Why is contempt for public health politically advantageous now? So bizarre.

Why is contempt for public health politically advantageous now? So bizarre.

Because the appearance of having this under control is easier to accomplish than actually doing something when an election is looming.

Because the appearance of having this under control is easier to accomplish than actually doing something when an election is looming.

And a huge proportion of the population gullibly believes that it's under control if our "leaders" just say it's so.

And a huge proportion of the population gullibly believes that it's under control if our "leaders" just say it's so.

and an even bigger part of the population just doesn't think it is a big deal for most of the population

That's why you have to look at hospital data along with positivity rates and daily case counts. Oklahoma is hovering around 1.00 for an R-Value. Texas and Florida are now clearly below 1.0, and it was only a week or two ago when people were trying to say there declines were not real because of positivity rates were still high. There was a delay before positivity rates followed suit.

and an even bigger part of the population just doesn't think it is a big deal for most of the population

This is true. A significant amount of people think 170.000+ people dead in six months is "acceptable" and should not inconvenience them in any way.

*183,000 deaths and growing by over 1,000 per day.

*183,000 deaths and growing by over 1,000 per day.

Thanks for the correction.

I would honestly like to know if there is an unacceptable number to them.

Depending on the scenario, it’s as few as 4.

CDC was pressured 'from the top down' to change coronavirus testing guidance, official says (https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/26/politics/cdc-coronavirus-testing-guidance/index.html)

(CNN)A sudden change in federal guidelines on coronavirus testing came this week as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, a federal health official close to the process tells CNN.

So this is basically a big Kabuki dance to show "cases are going down" to help Trump's campaign. Except it will totally backfire and just lead to more cases and more community spread.

I guess it should be pointed out that the part of the population that doesn't think it's a big deal does not outnumber those who take it seriously and don't see people's suffering from COVID as sacrifice for their right to not wear a mask in a store for 20 minutes.

Covid denying gets a lot of play, and that demo is significant and influential, but it seems most people are trying to mitigate and manage their personal risk and the risk to the community, while making hard decisions about what is best for the livelihood and safety of their families.

Widespread testing has proven to be a great containment tool that also allows for less restrictive public policy. It's a shame that cruel indifference and political optics are standing in the way of a real strategy that could reduce loss of life, decrease suffering, AND facilitate a faster economic recovery. We could be moving past it in many respects, but we are choosing not to. Effectively, some people are advocating for more prolonged suffering.

Thanks for the correction.

I would honestly like to know if there is an unacceptable number to them.

There is a significant amount of Americans with a certain political philosophy that struggle to think anything is a concern unless it touches them personally or their closest family members. Then it becomes a matter of crisis.

This is true. A significant amount of people think 170.000+ people dead in six months is "acceptable" and should not inconvenience them in any way.

It's not that they think the 180,000+ deaths are acceptable. It's that it's a very abstract number to them. I think, for a lot of folks, once you're dealing with those type of numbers it becomes a statistic.

What's worse, is that these folks look closer at the local numbers. A common objection I get is that "there have only been X deaths in my zip code from covid". When you've got someone in a zip code in Edmond that's only had 2 deaths in 6 months, that person can't understand why all this effort is being made locally. They understand why folks in "other" areas might need to take efforts. But it's not a local problem (in their mind).

I actually like wearing my collection of Masks.
Always been a bit self-conscious when I go out.
But now I’m not.

It's not that they think the 180,000+ deaths are acceptable. It's that it's a very abstract number to them. I think, for a lot of folks, once you're dealing with those type of numbers it becomes a statistic.

What's worse, is that these folks look closer at the local numbers. A common objection I get is that "there have only been X deaths in my zip code from covid". When you've got someone in a zip code in Edmond that's only had 2 deaths in 6 months, that person can't understand why all this effort is being made locally. They understand why folks in "other" areas might need to take efforts. But it's not a local problem (in their mind).

What I also find unexplainable is the contrast with "only 3k" deaths from the WTC and the changes made from flying, drivers license, accessing Federal and State buildings, the list is endless. Yet the public accepts these changes.

I actually like wearing my?? collection of Masks.
Always been a bit self-conscious when I go out.
But now I’m not.I had a stash of N95 masks that I had from doing body work on an old car. They’re ugly but effective. I later got a few N95 masks from work that looked a bit better. I recently found some 3M N95 masks on Amazon that are both effective and not so bad looking. OK. I’m vain. I spent way too much but now I look decent and am sufficiently protected.

Putnam City was set to play a football game at Enid on Friday, and PC Schools cancelled the game because Enid is now a hotspot.

Enid merely scheduled Madill to play instead.

It will be interesting to see how one sided that game will be.

It's not that they think the 180,000+ deaths are acceptable. It's that it's a very abstract number to them. I think, for a lot of folks, once you're dealing with those type of numbers it becomes a statistic.

What's worse, is that these folks look closer at the local numbers. A common objection I get is that "there have only been X deaths in my zip code from covid". When you've got someone in a zip code in Edmond that's only had 2 deaths in 6 months, that person can't understand why all this effort is being made locally. They understand why folks in "other" areas might need to take efforts. But it's not a local problem (in their mind).

Well, there was a poll where, in context of the governmental response to the crisis, a significant amount of people responded that the death toll was "acceptable". Wording and context always matters in polls and they don't allow for much nuance, but just getting a statistically significant amount of respondents to check that box is telling. I'd post an article about the poll, but it's too politically loaded for this thread, imo. If you want to take a look at it, I'll send it to you.

And, I agree. Most are going to process it through their experience in their immediate environment. And, in a lot of ways, they should when making personal decisions, but extrapolating that to public policy is where it becomes more complicated.

^ Didn't that fall along partisan lines?

^ Didn't that fall along partisan lines?

This could lead to an interesting discussion that unfortunately isn't appropriate here.

What I also find unexplainable is the contrast with "only 3k" deaths from the WTC and the changes made from flying, drivers license, accessing Federal and State buildings, the list is endless. Yet the public accepts these changes.

On some level, it's a fascinating study.

In the wake of 9/11, there was the biggest encroachment of government on personal rights, personal freedoms, and personal privacy in my lifetime, and it persist to this day. That was a time when "small government" conservatives argued that, if the government deems it pertinent, your communications will be monitored by the government because surrendering that privacy protection to the government will save American lives, and everyone bought in and an entirely new government institution was created to do just that.

In the time of COVID, a contagious disease, where the death of Americans is "only" 1000 per day, as opposed to 3000 in one violent act, a store clerk asking a patron to wear a mask is a violation of their civil rights and warrants a protest.

Policy makers today are scared to issue a temporary mandate to wear a piece of cloth on your face in an effort to potentially save the lives of tens of thousand American lives, but they had no hesitation in compromising constitutional directives on personal privacy in the wake of losing thousands of American lives.

And, i'm sure it sounds like it, but I'm not making a qualitative judgement on the response to 9/11 or the COVID pandemic. That's just how it's played out.

Personally, and anecdotally, all I can think about right now is my grandfather who lied about his age so he could become a pilot to do his part to fight against a far away foreign enemy half a world away because he had a sense that doing so was his duty to protect the lives of Americans. Thankfully, he and his fellow pilots persevered, but they raised children that complain about the inconvenience of wearing a face mask for 20 minutes while they shop.

Thanks for the correction.

I would honestly like to know if there is an unacceptable number to them.

180,000 would be more than the entire population of Norman. Picture Norman totally empty. Or roughly 28% of Okc’s population. That is totally mind boggling to me. How can people not care about that?

We have already lost almost half the number we did in WWII.

And it's happened in 6 months, not four years.


180,000 is 3X the number we lost in Vietnam.

(Depressing) Graph time.

Hit a sad milestone yesterday where August became the most deadly month of the pandemic.

Month Summary
I honestly expected total cases to end the month a bit lower, but it seems that totals for August are going to end up very close to July, with 26/31 days now reported.
https://i.imgur.com/zaODMBt.png

Averages
Hopefully, we have passed our peak on rolling 7 day average deaths. Today's number was not encouraging, but we are passed our highest ever case averages by ~3.5 weeks now. Previous trends showed that 3.5 week lag between reported case & death averages is when correlation becomes higher.

7-day Cases seem to have stopped declining, consolidating around the ~700 mark. Possibly increasing a bit.
https://i.imgur.com/00aCLVs.png

All 7/14/21 day case averages now stuck at the 700 rut:
https://i.imgur.com/E4b9IY8.png

Totals
The last two weeks have been rough. Total 14 day deaths at an all time high of 136, with rolling 2-week case counts hovering around the 9,500 mark:
https://i.imgur.com/ddZKRDU.png

Be safe out there.

Personally, and anecdotally, all I can think about right now is my grandfather who lied about his age so he could become a pilot to do his part to fight against a far away foreign enemy half a world away because he had a sense that doing so was his duty to protect the lives of Americans. Thankfully, he and his fellow pilots persevered, but they raised children that complain about the inconvenience of wearing a face mask for 20 minutes while they shop.

Personally and anecdotally I think of my father who served in WW2 and was activated during Korea, but was not deployed. My mom worked for the Post Office during the war years.
However in my parents case as well as the case of the parents of my 3 closest friends it was a different story.

My friends and I were all born in 1954 and were not subject to being drafted as the draft had ended the year before. However in all our cases we chose to serve in the military voluntarily. This was not done do to not being college material either as all of us post military obtained degrees. 3 of us in the USMC and 1 guy in the USAF. 3 of us served 4 years active, one of the others did a 2 year enlistment. All of us going in at the ripe old age of 20. Each and everyone of us accepts and gets the concept of wearing a mask. Not only for health reasons, but also we feel we owe that to our country and the states we live in. We collectively puke at the response of the self serving concept of those who feel no responsibility. I should also add each of us live in different states in 3 different regions.

We all feel that it is evident that an obligation to this country for a period of 2 years should be mandatory. Not necessarily the military either. National service in the military, Peace Corps, Vista, or some other form of service that benefits the USA would satisfy the obligation. This service would instill in the populace a shared common denominator of having skin in the game. It would also chip away at the self centered attitude displayed by large segments of the population regardless of age. It would also eleminate the "chicken hawks" who are arm chair patriots who sacrifice nada.

When I get a "thank you for your service" from a young person I tell them they can thank me by volunteering to serve in some capacity. That throw away line that came about after Iraq means as much as the greeting" How you doing". Nobody cares or expects an answer to that rhetorical question. Personally, Uncle Sam thanked me once a month for 48 months for my service. Don't patronize me, please.

Thanks for the rest of your post. The apparent contradictions are fascinating. I do recall after the WTC attack we were told to "go shopping" as advice to right the ship. Crazy talk indeed.

It's not that they think the 180,000+ deaths are acceptable. It's that it's a very abstract number to them. I think, for a lot of folks, once you're dealing with those type of numbers it becomes a statistic.

What's worse, is that these folks look closer at the local numbers. A common objection I get is that "there have only been X deaths in my zip code from covid". When you've got someone in a zip code in Edmond that's only had 2 deaths in 6 months, that person can't understand why all this effort is being made locally. They understand why folks in "other" areas might need to take efforts. But it's not a local problem (in their mind).

The poll showed that 57% of Republicans said 170,000 people is an "acceptable" level of death.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/513301-57-percent-of-republicans-say-coronavirus-deaths-have-been-acceptable

The poll showed that 57% of Republicans said 170,000 people is an "acceptable" level of death.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/513301-57-percent-of-republicans-say-coronavirus-deaths-have-been-acceptable

That doesn't affect what I said in the post at all. I know what they responded. I was answering why. Especially since the question didn't include the number of deaths.

And then we have businesses like this in Edmond -

https://okcfox.com/news/local/business-blatantly-ignores-edmonds-new-mask-mandate

Of course, this is the same lady who claimed during a council meeting that her UV lights make her shop safe from Covid-19.

And then we have businesses like this in Edmond -

https://okcfox.com/news/local/business-blatantly-ignores-edmonds-new-mask-mandate

Of course, this is the same lady who claimed during a council meeting that her UV lights make her shop safe from Covid-19.

"Conscious Community Cafe?" The irony, it burns. And did you know that eating a nutrient dense diet protects you from COVID 19? Quick, get this information to the world's infectious disease experts.

712 new cases today. Last 2 Thursdays have been 746 and 705 respectively.

15 additional deaths. We've had 48 reported deaths in just the last 3 days, by far the largest amount for any 3-day period to date.

My mom had symptoms earlier this week and got her positive test back yesterday (fortunately is feeling ok for now). The clinic she went to said there had been a ton of positive tests the last couple days.

I Had COVID-19 But Tested Negative 5 Times. Here's What You Should Know About Testing. (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/coronavirus-testing-symptoms-doctor_n_5f43da82c5b6c00d03b1ffd9)

So it seems that our numbers are staying steady for the state, but hot spots are moving and smaller cities and rural areas are making up for the drop in the big cities?

And then we have businesses like this in Edmond -

https://okcfox.com/news/local/business-blatantly-ignores-edmonds-new-mask-mandate

Of course, this is the same lady who claimed during a council meeting that her UV lights make her shop safe from Covid-19.

A good place to go, light up a Churchill size cigar and claim "personal freedom".

And then we have businesses like this in Edmond -

https://okcfox.com/news/local/business-blatantly-ignores-edmonds-new-mask-mandate

Of course, this is the same lady who claimed during a council meeting that her UV lights make her shop safe from Covid-19.

And schools like this in Norman . . .

In an email obtained by The Transcript, Community Christian School Principal Barbara Ohsfeldt detailed the school’s plans for the school year, noting that CCS will not be implementing any new procedures in response to the pandemic.

The school emailed parents after being contacted by multiple families regarding its school year plans. CCS’s fall semester began on Thursday, Aug. 20.

“Our plans are to continue normal school from August to May,” the email reads. “1. We will not be wearing masks. 2. Classrooms will be normal. 3. We will eat in the cafeteria as we have always done. 4. We will have recess for elementary school students. We will clean our classrooms and all other areas as if we were in the flu season.


https://www.normantranscript.com/news/norman-private-schools-take-different-paths-to-tackle-pandemic/article_43f40e6a-e7e9-11ea-aee2-ebe49d53bd3b.html

And schools like this in Norman . . .

In an email obtained by The Transcript, Community Christian School Principal Barbara Ohsfeldt detailed the school’s plans for the school year, noting that CCS will not be implementing any new procedures in response to the pandemic.

The school emailed parents after being contacted by multiple families regarding its school year plans. CCS’s fall semester began on Thursday, Aug. 20.

“Our plans are to continue normal school from August to May,” the email reads. “1. We will not be wearing masks. 2. Classrooms will be normal. 3. We will eat in the cafeteria as we have always done. 4. We will have recess for elementary school students. We will clean our classrooms and all other areas as if we were in the flu season.


https://www.normantranscript.com/news/norman-private-schools-take-different-paths-to-tackle-pandemic/article_43f40e6a-e7e9-11ea-aee2-ebe49d53bd3b.html

"We will vehemently deny that any cases of COVID-19 among our staff and pupils spread because we refused to implement even the most basic safety measures that anybody that has any 10-year old's knowledge of science knows would have helped."

And schools like this in Norman . . .

In an email obtained by The Transcript, Community Christian School Principal Barbara Ohsfeldt detailed the school’s plans for the school year, noting that CCS will not be implementing any new procedures in response to the pandemic.

The school emailed parents after being contacted by multiple families regarding its school year plans. CCS’s fall semester began on Thursday, Aug. 20.

“Our plans are to continue normal school from August to May,” the email reads. “1. We will not be wearing masks. 2. Classrooms will be normal. 3. We will eat in the cafeteria as we have always done. 4. We will have recess for elementary school students. We will clean our classrooms and all other areas as if we were in the flu season.


https://www.normantranscript.com/news/norman-private-schools-take-different-paths-to-tackle-pandemic/article_43f40e6a-e7e9-11ea-aee2-ebe49d53bd3b.html

This is the same group who had graduation a couple of months ago with no masks and people sitting side by side.
I question the quality of the education here. Science classes must be really informative.

And schools like this in Norman . . .

In an email obtained by The Transcript, Community Christian School Principal Barbara Ohsfeldt detailed the school’s plans for the school year, noting that CCS will not be implementing any new procedures in response to the pandemic.

The school emailed parents after being contacted by multiple families regarding its school year plans. CCS’s fall semester began on Thursday, Aug. 20.

“Our plans are to continue normal school from August to May,” the email reads. “1. We will not be wearing masks. 2. Classrooms will be normal. 3. We will eat in the cafeteria as we have always done. 4. We will have recess for elementary school students. We will clean our classrooms and all other areas as if we were in the flu season.


https://www.normantranscript.com/news/norman-private-schools-take-different-paths-to-tackle-pandemic/article_43f40e6a-e7e9-11ea-aee2-ebe49d53bd3b.htmlThere just aren’t words to describe such total stupidity!!!

There just aren’t words to describe such total stupidity!!!

"Criminal" "Negligent" "Careless" "Thoughtless" "Ignorant"

Those are the nice words I could use....

There just aren’t words to describe such total stupidity!!!

On the contrary... there are quite a few actually. ;)

16367

It is wild because some of the other Christian schools are following basic guidelines that public schools are (OCS and CHA). What the heck are they doing at CCS?!