1,309 new cases today. 7-day rolling average is now 1,164.

Hospitalizations 760 (+2) for an all-time high.

ICU 277 (+1).

15 more reported deaths.

202 new cases in OK County.

I think we have really hit maximum "pandemic fatigue." A lot of people who I know were careful early just stopped caring. I get it, 7 months of this has been a long time.

Saw that the mask ordinance extension passed with a 7-1 vote, wondering if anybody knew offhand who the dissenter was?

I think we have really hit maximum "pandemic fatigue." A lot of people who I know were careful early just stopped caring. I get it, 7 months of this has been a long time.

What would all these people do if they had to face something like Europe did during WWI and WWII? 7 months of social distancing and mask-wearing, boo-hoo.......

Saw that the mask ordinance extension passed with a 7-1 vote, wondering if anybody knew offhand who the dissenter was?

McAtee.

Watch this amazing graphic and tell me leadership doesn't make a difference.

https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1315817866424442880

Watch this amazing graphic and tell me leadership doesn't make a difference.

https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1315817866424442880

That is a perfect representation of what has happened in this country.

If it carried through to today, you'd see that North Dakota is now #1 in per capita cases. Freaking North Dakota with just about the lowest population density in the country.

It also goes to show how rural areas -- which have not had nearly the mask mandates or compliance -- are where the biggest increases are showing up then consequently flooding hospitals in cities, which is exactly what is happening in Oklahoma.

Don't forget too, that kids start taking standardized tests in 3rd grade. These kids are still really little, and 1 year can have a detrimental affect in preparing for the testing.

One thing that we forget is that we look at these circumstances with very adult (typically) thought processes. We forget what it's like to be a kid. I don't remember much from kindergarten, so I can't put myself in these kid's shoes, and I know we are all guilty of that.

As you said, 3-4 years will be a disaster, but I would argue, for a subset of these kids, that 1 year could have a long-lasting detrimental effect on their development.

Well I guess our state leaders should have thought about that when they refused to get the virus under control. Don't forget, though, that our state leaders don't care about education either, and they are obviously willing to send teachers to their premature deaths without remorse. '

Bad look for Oklahoma.

McAtee.

Words cannot adequately describe how much I despise Larry McAtee. As a constituent, he is routinely dismissive to members of his ward and he never listens to anyone. He is a terrible listener (added for emphasis). So glad that fossil is retiring.

Words cannot adequately describe how much I despise Larry McAtee. As a constituent, he is routinely dismissive to members of his ward and he never listens to anyone. He is a terrible listener (added for emphasis). So glad that fossil is retiring.

Good to know that idiot's going to be gone, saves me a nasty email asking him if he's going to be the next science-denying snowball politician.

Wow! I'm surprised almost daily by something that people do. Within no time at all after the vote this might the City Of Oklahoma City FB page blew up with rude, mean, hateful, selfish comments by mask vs no-mask supporters. I hid the page afterward an hour or so. I'm glued the discussion was online because if it was face to face it might have taken an ugly turn.

Just seems odd choice to move lab away from urban centers. Bulk of public health testing is STD outbreaks and communicable diseases. Separating the laboratory from the actual health department as well as from an urban core is interesting. And that's a hell of a new commute if you are a lab employee.

I'm not the only one who thought this was an odd move.https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/oklahoma-public-health-laboratory-relocation-plan-draws-blowback/

I'm not the only one who thought this was an odd move.https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/oklahoma-public-health-laboratory-relocation-plan-draws-blowback/

With so many issues around public health in Oklahoma, why in blue hell should we completely relocate the lab and risk losing a good number of very experienced employees?

And how on earth does this help 'rural healh'? OKC is dead-center of the state; this will move the lab farther away from lots of places, including Lawton.

He'll issue a statement disputing the numbers then do zero.

That's accurate. What he won't say is that lack of. ICU beds in rural counties and lack of trained medical personnel in every Oklahoma county are turning this into a goat roping cluster F$@$.
To paraphrase Seinfeld, I can call anything an ICU bed. It's the actual ICU care that's important.

With so many issues around public health in Oklahoma, why in blue hell should we completely relocate the lab and risk losing a good number of very experienced employees?

And how on earth does this help 'rural healh'? OKC is dead-center of the state; this will move the lab farther away from lots of places, including Lawton.

Unless you WANT all your state employees to quit so that you can then pursue a private contract with a third party lab vendor thereby saving the State Health Dept $$ in benefits and matching retirement pensions. Then you can say you streamlined the "out of control" state health budget. As I recall, the most recent Health Department head actually asked the state legislature for LESS money than was originally appropriated.
I'm guessing it all comes down to cost.

Unless you WANT all your state employees to quit so that you can then pursue a private contract with a third party lab vendor thereby saving the State Health Dept $$ in benefits and matching retirement pensions. Then you can say you streamlined the "out of control" state health budget. As I recall, the most recent Health Department head actually asked the state legislature for LESS money than was originally appropriated.
I'm guessing it all comes down to cost.

Nailed it. Yay, go neoliberalism, the most wonderful economic ideology of all time.....

I think we have really hit maximum "pandemic fatigue." A lot of people who I know were careful early just stopped caring. I get it, 7 months of this has been a long time.

Anyone who claims they're "going back to normal" because they have "pandemic fatigue" just comes off as spoiled and selfish. I'm sorry, it's pathetic.

I am very sympathetic to people actually being fatigued by the pandemic. That's legitimate. But deciding you're done with it is just immature.

McAtee.

Is Stitt still mute on this? It's infuriating to think we are out of ICU beds in OKC mostly due to morons in Weatherford and Elk City who are too embarrassed to wear a mask, because certain nationally elected political leaders are telling them it makes them look weak.

Anyone who claims they're "going back to normal" because they have "pandemic fatigue" just comes off as spoiled and selfish. I'm sorry, it's pathetic.

I am very sympathetic to people actually being fatigued by the pandemic. That's legitimate. But deciding you're done with it is just immature.
I'm fatigued of it. And it's taking healthy, active time away from me that I don't know how much of I have. But even with antibodies that I was pretty sure would keep me safe I was anal about taking ALL the precautions. Part of the woodwork on our cabinets will have to be redone because with wipes not available I'm using alcohol and it's changed the finish. And I'm not letting up a bit. At all. Period.

FYI, the only way to end a pandemic like this is a vaccine.

And the only way to have 1000 deaths a day is to do nothing about it. There are examples of containing it without complete shutdowns. The US has a little more than 4% of the world's population and accounts for about 20% of Covid related deaths.

The choice isn't between shutting down and doing nothing. The choice is between implementing mitigating efforts and procedures to limit transmission and death or doing nothing and maximizing transmission and death. We have many people who are not only choosing the do nothing plan, but are actively working against mitigation efforts and, in turn, actively encouraging more transmission. Our disproportionate amount of cases and deaths is because we systematically willed it to be so.

The crazy thing is that none of the pandemic war gaming models before this pandemic suggested that the US would be this bad, because they all assumed the United States would respond as well as or better than any other country in the world to a pandemic crisis, given its resources. We are not a country that couldn't respond to a pandemic, we are one that chose not to.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2771761

OK currently about 10% higher rate of death than expected. I believe it was bouldersooner who claimed we’ve had fewer deaths this year.

This study is a huge deal. Fully 1/3 of the deaths are not directly due to Covid but show the downstream effects of the pandemic. Which circles back to the whole lack of ICU beds currently. Now is a really bad time to have a heart attack.

This study is a huge deal. Fully 1/3 of the deaths are not directly due to Covid but show the downstream effects of the pandemic. Which circles back to the whole lack of ICU beds currently. Now is a really bad time to have a heart attack.

And this is a key metric.

Basically, don't get in a car wreck right now. Don't have a stroke right now. Don't have a heart attack right now. Even if you didn't get coronavirus when you weren't wearing a mask in a bar, you may die because someone else felt the same way as you about not wearing a mask. Unfortunately, there's no longer room for you both. The infrastructure was not built for a pandemic of this magnitude, so you get to choose.

Well Guys I just had to go pick up my daughter from Moore High. She is being quarantined for 14 days, a girl at her school that tested positive showed up to school yesterday and by midday was bragging about having covid which turned out to be true so multiple kids that sat close to her in the classrooms got sent home for 14 days which was a lot of them, there was a line of cars picking up other students when i showed up to pick my daughter up. My daughter is upset, mad and scared all at the same time that this has happened. She has multiple test coming up and she is scared with doing all online she might fail smh. I really wish the schools would just go back to online. I tried asking the school questions about the exposure and the questions about the kid who tested positive but the school wouldnt tell me any info ( not wanting to know the girls name or anything, I know the name due to my daughter telling me the whole story of the girl, just that if its true that the girl knew about it and brought it purposely to school ).

And did her parents allow her to come to school anyway?.

I love how the OSDH is saying they “we’re monitoring the situation” in regards to no available icu beds.

Glad to know our tax dollars are being used well here...

Isn’t there a meme about this: “some people just want to watch the world burn.” That’s our OSDH...

With so many issues around public health in Oklahoma, why in blue hell should we completely relocate the lab and risk losing a good number of very experienced employees?

And how on earth does this help 'rural healh'? OKC is dead-center of the state; this will move the lab farther away from lots of places, including Lawton.

The long commute brought up in an article is not all that big of a deal. A number of OSU professors and other OSU employees commute from Oklahoma City and Tulsa metros. However, they don't want to move to Stillwater, due to its sad lack of a shopping, dining, entertainment and other highly desired amenities. But that is solvable by driving to Oklahoma City and Tulsa on weekends.

Speaking of Tulsa, maybe many legislators from that area will be supportive of the move, since it will be closer to Tulsa. At any rate, the state needs a bigger and better health lab now. But I won't be surprised plans are changed, probably during the legislative session, and the health lab gets moved back to OKC in a couple of years or so when construction on a new one is finished there. That will make current employees happy as well as other people. The planned Oklahoma Pandemic Center for Innovation and Excellence will follow.

Timing, wisdom questioned in relocation announcement. https://www.muskogeephoenix.com/oklahoma/news/timing-wisdom-questioned-in-relocation-announcement/article_6b7677ab-2225-5aff-9d23-e5471ef66abf.html

Photo of building the lab will be moving into soon for the interim, if all is finalized. It was formerly occupied by Devon.

http://okie.world/photos/healthlab.jpg

I think we have really hit maximum "pandemic fatigue." A lot of people who I know were careful early just stopped caring. I get it, 7 months of this has been a long time.

There is a group of us normally in the office at work. Same situation, at first we cleaned, wiped and sprayed Lysol until we choked on it. Now, not so much, and just as guilty. We do try to wear our masks, but even that is not not 100%.

And did her parents allow her to come to school anyway?.

The parents probably didn't give a damn.
That's a huge part of the problem.

The U.S. has now passed 8 million cases and 220,000 deaths.

And did her parents allow her to come to school anyway?.

Im not sure! I called the school to ask questions and the person on the phone told me she cant answer anything and to ask my daughter which makes no sense smh, all my daughter told me was the girl knew she had it and how multiple cheerleaders tested positive the past week which this girl was a cheerleader according my daughter. I got a email last night saying the school was made aware that 2 kids had coronavirus and attended school on monday and that was mainly it so I dont have a answer but you would think the parents allowed her to show up since she came in knowing she was positive and later on bragged about it to some students which then turned her in. Again this info is from my daughter since the school is not giving me any answers smh. I believe my daughter because she was so mad at this girl my daughter was in tears from being angry and I know my daughter wouldnt be angry if it was just a I did not know I had Covid type situation.

1,121 new cases today, the most ever for a Wednesday.

7-day rolling average now 1,180, an all-time high.

Hospitalizations 749 (-11), down slightly from an all-time high.

ICU 289 (+12), an all-time high.

Im not sure! I called the school to ask questions and the person on the phone told me she cant answer anything and to ask my daughter which makes no sense smh, all my daughter told me was the girl knew she had it and how multiple cheerleaders tested positive the past week which this girl was a cheerleader according my daughter. I got a email last night saying the school was made aware that 2 kids had coronavirus and attended school on monday and that was mainly it so I dont have a answer but you would think the parents allowed her to show up since she came in knowing she was positive and later on bragged about it to some students which then turned her in. Again this info is from my daughter since the school is not giving me any answers smh. I believe my daughter because she was so mad at this girl my daughter was in tears from being angry and I know my daughter wouldnt be angry if it was just a I did not know I had Covid type situation.

Jesseda, I think you should hire an attorney to be honest.

White House report out today for public.

"Oklahoma is in the red zone for cases, indicating 101 or more new cases per 100,000 population last week, with the 9th highest rate in the country. Oklahoma is in the orange zone for test positivity, indicating a rate between 8.0% and 10.0%, with the 8th highest rate in the country."

https://coronavirus.health.ok.gov/sites/g/files/gmc786/f/oklahomawhitehousereport101112020.pdf

So, end of the year we will have around 250,000 cases? Then we will hit 1,000,000 by end of April '21?

Jesseda, I think you should hire an attorney to be honest.

Personal injury lawsuit against a parent who intentionally sends a child infected with a pandemic disease to school? Interesting idea.

So, end of the year we will have around 250,000 cases? Then we will hit 1,000,000 by end of April '21?
At the current rate yes. And there's the theory, which seems very reasonable, that many times more people have or have had it than the results show. If so with a population of 4 million it's possible that 50% or more will have had the virus by that time. Possibly way more.

Why did OCCHD stop posting the weekly report of where the Oklahoma county cases were occurring? Used to be a weekly post based on contact tracing, which was how they identified church services, restaurants, etc. I think it was called "The Serious Six"?
The jaded cynic in me wonders if the Oklahoma Restaurant Association had some choice words with the elected representatives. Also, around the time they stopped posting, we as a state decided to celebrate " Restaurant Appreciation Day" when the Governor told everyone to go dine out on October 3rd.
I wonder if the restaurant lobby has decided that contact tracing doesn't benefit them.

Why did OCCHD stop posting the weekly report of where the Oklahoma county cases were occurring? Used to be a weekly post based on contact tracing, which was how they identified church services, restaurants, etc. I think it was called "The Serious Six"?
The jaded cynic in me wonders if the Oklahoma Restaurant Association had some choice words with the elected representatives. Also, around the time they stopped posting, we as a state decided to celebrate " Restaurant Appreciation Day" when the Governor told everyone to go dine out on October 3rd.
I wonder if the restaurant lobby has decided that contact tracing doesn't benefit them.
Could be. Just about the time we remotely considered the possibility of going to one of our regular restaurants the "Serious Six" came out listing restaurants as a hot spot so we decided not to. I've wondered why that system went away.

I read online that a teacher at Bishop McGuinness died today from Covid-19. The Oklahoman and Tulsa World as well as the TV outlets are dropping the ball big time on covering the spread of coronavirus in the schools. It could be simple laziness but there are least five dead teachers now, and kids have only been back in schools less than two months.

How many students have had it? How many teachers? How many family members of students or teachers have gotten it? It seems fairly obvious that the return to in-person learning is the number one cause of spread throughout the state right now, but how would we know?

This isn't receiving the news coverage it deserves.

Government interfering with business, or at least that is what somebody argued I’m sure.

Personal injury lawsuit against a parent who intentionally sends a child infected with a pandemic disease to school? Interesting idea.

Start with the school board, the superintendent, the principal and the parents. Keep suing.

I read online that a teacher at Bishop McGuinness died today from Covid-19. The Oklahoman and Tulsa World as well as the TV outlets are dropping the ball big time on covering the spread of coronavirus in the schools. It could be simple laziness but there are least five dead teachers now, and kids have only been back in schools less than two months.

How many students have had it? How many teachers? How many family members of students or teachers have gotten it? It seems fairly obvious that the return to in-person learning is the number one cause of spread throughout the state right now, but how would we know?

This isn't receiving the news coverage it deserves.

They are not keeping separate information on schools anywhere in the U.S.

I'm sure the current government does not want those numbers reported.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/12/us/school-year-start-in-pandemic-wellness/index.html

I had the sound off but channel 9 morning news actually ran a story this morning on how safe the schools are. Like has been said it's like we're in a bad Twilight Zone episode.

Well OKC was just on NBC National news mentioning how we have no ICU beds available. What a great look for our city. SMH

Well OKC was just on NBC National news mentioning how we have no ICU beds available. What a great look for our city. SMHI wonder how many places they could have chosen though. A few weeks ago there were 27 states with a RT below 1. Today there are 11. Many other countries are hitting or headed toward record levels. It's bad almost everywhere with no end in sight anywhere. Except maybe New Zealand but they have the advantage of being an island.

I wonder how many places they could have chosen though. A few weeks ago there were 27 states with a RT below 1. Today there are 11. Many other countries are hitting or headed toward record levels. It's bad almost everywhere with no end in sight anywhere. Except maybe New Zealand but they have the advantage of being an island.

The main body of the story was about Wisconsin. But OKC got thrown in there at the start of the story about cases on the rise.

I'm sure we were singled out because this was just made known yesterday's city council meeting.

And also because it's a particularly bad situation.

At the current rate yes. And there's the theory, which seems very reasonable, that many times more people have or have had it than the results show. If so with a population of 4 million it's possible that 50% or more will have had the virus by that time. Possibly way more.
There are lots of cockamamie theories out there.

At the current rate yes. And there's the theory, which seems very reasonable, that many times more people have or have had it than the results show. If so with a population of 4 million it's possible that 50% or more will have had the virus by that time. Possibly way more.

Nope. Studies have showed there is nothing to this. If you’re going to throw out conspiracy theories, at least add a respected source. If there isn’t one, then why spread it? This is called misinformation and it’s harmful.

I read online that a teacher at Bishop McGuinness died today from Covid-19. The Oklahoman and Tulsa World as well as the TV outlets are dropping the ball big time on covering the spread of coronavirus in the schools. It could be simple laziness but there are least five dead teachers now, and kids have only been back in schools less than two months.

How many students have had it? How many teachers? How many family members of students or teachers have gotten it? It seems fairly obvious that the return to in-person learning is the number one cause of spread throughout the state right now, but how would we know?

This isn't receiving the news coverage it deserves.

Confirmation

Beloved deacon, teacher at Bishop McGuinness Catholic School dies due to COVID-19


https://www.koco.com/article/beloved-deacon-teacher-at-bishop-mcguinness-catholic-school-dies-due-to-covid-19/34376402#

Nope. Studies have showed there is nothing to this. If you’re going to throw out conspiracy theories, at least add a respected source. If there isn’t one, then why spread it? This is called misinformation and it’s harmful.
So you don't believe there are lots of asymptomatic people that have the virus but never get tested because they have no reason to believe they need to? Like me for instance? It was estimated at the beginning that 80% of cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. I haven't seen anything dispute that. The CDC estimated as late as late July that lack of testing was causing many positives to be missed. I haven't seen anything from them changing that stance and I've searched. If you have something let me know where.

So you don't believe there are lots of asymptomatic people that have the virus but never get tested because they have no reason to believe they need to? Like me for instance? It was estimated at the beginning that 80% of cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. I haven't seen anything dispute that. The CDC estimated as late as late July that lack of testing was causing many positives to be missed. I haven't seen anything from them changing that stance and I've searched. If you have something let me know where.

I think people got twisted off on the specific number you threw out before. I don’t think that many people will argue that there are more people out there with covid than is showing in the numbers given the mildly asymptomatic community spread. The question is how much? Unfortunately, we may never know.

What I find interesting is how China can test 3 million people in 2 days which amounts to all the citizens in a particular city. They are able to get that clearer picture of covid spread in their cities and put a stop to it. The US on the other hand, is clearly a cluster **** in regards to our testing. We will never get a clear picture of what’s going on until we can get some rapid, in-home tests.

So you don't believe there are lots of asymptomatic people that have the virus but never get tested because they have no reason to believe they need to? Like me for instance? It was estimated at the beginning that 80% of cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. I haven't seen anything dispute that. The CDC estimated as late as late July that lack of testing was causing many positives to be missed. I haven't seen anything from them changing that stance and I've searched. If you have something let me know where.

very much this ... my parents just found out they are positive for Covid-19 ........ how you ask?? my father was going in for surgery and a covid test was required for them both a few days before. they would not have gotten a test other wise and had basically no symptoms.

I think people got twisted off on the specific number you threw out before. I don’t think that many people will argue that there are more people out there with covid than is showing in the numbers given the mildly asymptomatic community spread. The question is how much? Unfortunately, we may never know.

What I find interesting is how China can test 3 million people in 2 days which amounts to all the citizens in a particular city. They are able to get that clearer picture of covid spread in their cities and put a stop to it. The US on the other hand, is clearly a cluster **** in regards to our testing. We will never get a clear picture of what’s going on until we can get some rapid, in-home tests.
OK. I'll eat crow that I got a little carried away with the percentage. But it's absolutely certain that there are many more positives past and present than get included in the counts.

... We will never get a clear picture of what’s going on until we can get some rapid, in-home tests.

Even then, people will have to be willing to take the test, and that's not guaranteed for a large percentage of the population, most likely (and sadly).

Beloved deacon, teacher at Bishop McGuinness Catholic School dies due to COVID-19

https://www.koco.com/article/beloved-deacon-teacher-at-bishop-mcguinness-catholic-school-dies-due-to-covid-19/34376402#

As a former student of Deacon Grover, this news hit hard. If you were to poll McGuinness graduates on who their favorite teacher was, he would easily be top 2. R.I.P.

Even then, people will have to be willing to take the test, and that's not guaranteed for a large percentage of the population, most likely (and sadly).
Reasons people are not testing (note the similarities with HIV testing pre-Western blot and Elisa).
1. It's not free for everyone.
2. The sensitivity and specificity varies based on type of test and skill of test giver.
3. Positive test may result in stigma, ostracized from others, and resultant impact on work, relationships, mental health.
4. Fatalism. The belief that there is nothing to be done if they contract the disease and nothing that will change the predestined outcome.

So you don't believe there are lots of asymptomatic people that have the virus but never get tested because they have no reason to believe they need to? Like me for instance? It was estimated at the beginning that 80% of cases are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. I haven't seen anything dispute that. The CDC estimated as late as late July that lack of testing was causing many positives to be missed. I haven't seen anything from them changing that stance and I've searched. If you have something let me know where.

Do you really think that researchers just didn't think about asymptomatic people who don't get tested? Scientists have studied these topics and published papers on them. They account for everything you mentioned and come up with pretty low infection numbers still.

For those struggling to keep up with the news, the New York times has a good daily newsletter: https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/coronavirus-briefing

Reasons people are not testing (note the similarities with HIV testing pre-Western blot and Elisa).
1. It's not free for everyone.
2. The sensitivity and specificity varies based on type of test and skill of test giver.
3. Positive test may result in stigma, ostracized from others, and resultant impact on work, relationships, mental health.
4. Fatalism. The belief that there is nothing to be done if they contract the disease and nothing that will change the predestined outcome.

Yep, agreed, but that's for *current* testing, I was talking about the hypothetical of an at-home test that was easy and cheap (which C_M_25 didn't really say, but is kind of implied by "rapid, in-home").

How many people are just slightly sick that don't get tested cause they don't want that swab shoved up their nose. Hell no for me that looks painful. We are getting closer to herd immunity every day.

Do you really think that researchers just didn't think about asymptomatic people who don't get tested? Scientists have studied these topics and published papers on them. They account for everything you mentioned and come up with pretty low infection numbers still.

For those struggling to keep up with the news, the New York times has a good daily newsletter: https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/coronavirus-briefingI just have trouble seeing how researchers can analyze non-data. Asymptomatic people that don't get tested don't generate any data so how can that be analyzed? Until we have universal, regular testing for both virus and antibodies we won't have an accurate picture of how many people have or had the virus. And that probably isn't going to happen.