Covid-19 in OKC (coronavirus)

[OKC Guy]

Beginning this morning, my employer (in downtown okc) started mandatory temperature readings each morning before employees are allowed to enter the office building.

And work from home is now mandatory for those who are able.

Any other organizations doing temperature readings yet?

Interesting. Are they using temp probe or temp gun? And are they trained in use of equipment?

As an aside I wonder if companies will do this for flu season next year?

[mugofbeer]

The people I've seen posting it have said almost the exact same thing.... They know someone

Sort of like the mysterious "they say," "sources say", "some are saying."

[Bunty]

WOW WOW WOW. Moved here 8 years ago didn't realize how Dumb this state was until now. At someone point we are going to get to the point where everything will have to close. So why not just do it now and hope 2 weeks things are better and have more test. The longer we wait to close everything the long we will have to be closed. Would you rather be closed for 2 weeks or 1-2 months.

For an other example, there are three COVID-19 cases in Kay County. One is hospitalized in ICU in Ponca City. But the Ponca City mayor feels there is no need to shut down anything, because his town is different as shown in this release:

"The City of Stillwater made the announcement on Tuesday that all bars, restaurants and fitness facilities would be closed until further notice. Ponca City Mayor Homer Nicholson said he would not do the same in Ponca City.

“We are not going to do that at this time. My belief is that Stillwater did this due to the fact that they are a college city with thousands of students that frequent restaurants and bars."

“I continue to urge the public to be cautious, wash your hands, keep your distance and our plan in Ponca City is to maintain business as usual and try to maintain a comfort level so that no pandemonium happens."

“We will not do what the City of Stillwater has done unless there is a reason to do so here in Ponca City.”

The mayor doesn't seem to know most college students are gone for Spring Break and many aren't expected to come back, unless they have to in order to come get their stuff, since OSU is asking students to vacate campus housing by April 3. Those who lease off campus housing will come later. Why come back any sooner, since much of Stillwater is shut down? Only online classes will be conducted for the rest of the semester.

https://www.ocolly.com/news/students...6e78c668e.html

[dankrutka]

i think last week they were saying 97+ mil infected ..

I saw far higher estimates a month ago. Either way, we’re just at the tip of the iceberg. Right now, our pace is worse than Italy.

[dankrutka]

I've seen people on social media posting rumors that a shelter at home order will be made Sunday.... That may be triggering more panic and sending people out to get groceries/medications even though travelling to those places should not be restricted by a shelter at home order.

A bunch of these rumors gage already been debunked as intentional disinformation.

Having said that, lockdowns are coming just like in California. Cases are about to overwhelm the system.

[BBatesokc]

Beginning this morning, my employer (in downtown okc) started mandatory temperature readings each morning before employees are allowed to enter the office building.

And work from home is now mandatory for those who are able.

Any other organizations doing temperature readings yet?

My wife's work isn't doing temp readings (they know they are not qualified to do that and don't have medical grade equipment), but they were proactive early on and outfitted each employ with a laptop that can connect to their servers. They are had 'practice days' where everyone worked remotely to make sure it would work. They have offices here, DFW, Austin and maybe a few other places. Right now it's voluntary work from home. Locally I think maybe 75% are exercising that option. All are being encouraged to work from home starting next week - primarily because someone in their office complex (employee with a different company) was tested positive.

[kukblue1]

Here is the problem with the check for fever thing. The virus spreads most easily when an infected person has symptoms. But some spread might be possible before symptoms start. It can take 2–14 days after someone is exposed to the virus for symptoms to show up. So while checking for fevers might help it's still best to STAY HOME. Why are people just not getting it. I know people still have to go to work but it pretty much should be work and back and that's it.

[Teo9969]

I saw far higher estimates a month ago. Either way, we’re just at the tip of the iceberg. Right now, our pace is worse than Italy.

Why is our pace worse than Italy's?

[Edmond Hausfrau]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/valerie.../#69b631df1e18

I thought this was a great article for tips on staying mentally fresh while isolating at home. Astronauts are experts in this area.

[catcherinthewry]

Why is our pace worse than Italy's?

Because we had very few tests in the initial weeks. Now that we are testing more we're finding more positives. Expect this to continue until we get caught up on testing. The good news is the mortality rate is not going up as fast as the new case rate.

[Pete]

Because we had very few tests in the initial weeks. Now that we are testing more we're finding more positives. Expect this to continue until we get caught up on testing. The good news is the mortality rate is not going up as fast as the new case rate.

And the number of serious cases are still very low as a percentage, much lower than Italy.

That could change of course, but I'm hopeful this means, in general, our cases will be less severe.

It's also interesting to note that in Oklahoma, only about 10% tested have come back as positive. Since the only people being tested now are those either thinking they have symptoms or have been in contact with positive cases, this bodes well as testing is expanded.

[Teo9969]

Because we had very few tests in the initial weeks. Now that we are testing more we're finding more positives. Expect this to continue until we get caught up on testing. The good news is the mortality rate is not going up as fast as the new case rate.

The only reason I can assume someone would say our rate is worse than Italy's is because everybody fixated on the chart that showed the US as a comparison to Italy from a "Day Zero" perspective and it looked like we were almost lock-step with them give or take a dozen people.

Thing is, The US is over 5x the size of Italy. We've actually grown at a SUBSTANTIALLY slower rate than Italy, people just tend to be really bad with painting the correct pictures with numbers. The number should be painted as a percentage of population because 10k in Italy = 0.01515% of the population and 10k in the US = 0.00303%

This chart from reddit shows the picture as it should actually be interpreted.

https://i.redd.it/zkmvt7a4r4n41.jpg

[catch22]

The US is also far less dense than many other countries, especially those in Europe and China. This increases time between interactions as well as decreases the total interactions. Both of which I would assume would slow this down. I also read an interesting point that China's terrible air quality increased the severity of this as it is a respiratory virus. Our relatively cleaner air may make marginal cases here fall on the less severe side, where in China marginal cases fell on the more severe side.

[Pete]

The US is also far less dense than many other countries, especially Europe and China. This increases time between interactions as well as decreases the total interactions. Both of which I would assume would slow this down. I also read an interesting point that China's terrible air quality increased the severity of this as it is a respiratory virus. Our relatively cleaner air may make marginal cases here fall on the less severe side, where in China marginal cases fell on the more severe side.

Not only are we far less dense, as a society we have far less social interactions.

For better or worse, very few people take public transportation. Far fewer people congregate in public spaces. Most Americans have home computers, great A/V systems and other amenities; families with kids often have better backyard playground equipment than most parks. Most people rarely even see their own neighbors; garage door goes up, car pulls in, door down, person walks directly in the house. People aren't even out front doing their own lawn work.

We may eat out more often but it's a ton of drive-thru stuff and you don't get nearly the local bar/pub/cafe scene you see in Europe.

And there is less physical contact in the states vs. Europe; certainly less kissing on the cheek.

[RustytheBailiff]

Yea, that will never happen for a variety of reasons, the most obvious of which being that no branch of the federal government has the constitutional or statutory authority to mandate such a lockdown.

The President can impose Marshall Law, or he can request/require every Governor to impose it. A National lock down will occur, hopefully before its too late to do any good.

[king183]

And the number of serious cases are still very low as a percentage, much lower than Italy.

That could change of course, but I'm hopeful this means, in general, our cases will be less severe.

It's also interesting to note that in Oklahoma, only about 10% tested have come back as positive. Since the only people being tested now are those either thinking they have symptoms or have been in contact with positive cases, this bodes well as testing is expanded.

Italy has a large number of elderly residents as well, and as we know they are more susceptible to the virus’s effects.

In another thread, I mentioned air pollution, as measured by particular matter 2.5, as a potential amplifier of the virus’s severity. We know air pollution weakens the immune system and the respiratory system. Northern Italy, where the virus outbreak has been the worst for that country, has severe air pollution problems. China has even worse air pollution problems. We have relatively pristine air compared to them.

We’ll need to see a lot more data to determine if air pollution is playing a role in the virus’s spread and severity, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is.

[kukblue1]

I knew 3 people personally that are showing mild symptoms. They called to get tested and they said no only if your have major symptoms will you be tested. So how many people are walking around with it right now that have a small cough and a mild fever. Why are we not testing more?

[chuck5815]

The President can impose Marshall Law, or he can request/require every Governor to impose it. A National lock down will occur, hopefully before its too late to do any good.

there is no such thing as “Marshall Law.” It’s called Martial Law.

And, no, the president has no authority to declare it or require such from governors.

There is no federal police power. It is reserved to the States. 10th Amendment and all that Jazz.

[dankrutka]

Why is our pace worse than Italy's?

The most recent chart (I'll have to go find it) I saw we are still spiking higher than them... we're not leveling off. We're just behind them. As of now, we should expect to have a similar situation in about a week.

[dankrutka]

Italy has a large number of elderly residents as well, and as we know they are more susceptible to the virus’s effects.

Every country has it's advantages and weaknesses. In the U.S., for example, higher obesity and poor health could result in an increase in cases as they are a more susceptible group.

[Pete]

The most recent chart (I'll have to go find it) I saw we are still spiking higher than them... we're not leveling off. We're just behind them. As of now, we should expect to have a similar situation in about a week.

In # of cases, but not nearly the same number of serious ones.

That matters a lot because everyone else can just stay home and get through it like most illnesses. The big concern is overwhelming our hospitals and we are nowhere close to that. It could all change but that is not the current trend.

[jonny d]

I knew 3 people personally that are showing mild symptoms. They called to get tested and they said no only if your have major symptoms will you be tested. So how many people are walking around with it right now that have a small cough and a mild fever. Why are we not testing more?

Well, if they gave a single crap about those around them, they would not be outside with any symptoms at all (you know, common courtesy). As to the testing, there just aren't any available. I think it is important to stay home if you have any minor symptoms, and not flood the ER, since there is no treatment anyway for a virus. Especially since adequate testing won't be here for a month.

But really, if people are walking around even with a fever caused by something else, they should be thrown in solitary confinement in jail. That is almost criminal negligence, to me.

[Edmond Hausfrau]

I knew 3 people personally that are showing mild symptoms. They called to get tested and they said no only if your have major symptoms will you be tested. So how many people are walking around with it right now that have a small cough and a mild fever. Why are we not testing more?

Because we are triaging our resources. Asymptomatic people, people with mild symptoms are not being tested at this time. Persons who believe they have been exposed and are symptom free, or persons with mild symptoms that can be managed at home are asked to please self-quarantine and cease all contact with others.

[OKC Guy]

Here is rates. I think as more are tested rates come down. I think most of us realize this has been spreading long before thought. And thats the silver lining if more already had it without knowing and survived it means the bark is worse than bite.

[Pete]

Updated numbers for Saturday 3/21: