Covid-19 in OKC (coronavirus)

[betts]

If you have to go to work, you have to - my wife works at the House of Reps as a proofing specialist and their job can't be done remotely and lawsausage-making has to go on. She's on very reduced hours, but still has to go in if they need her. And if you're out of food, you have to get some, and if you have to go to work or the grocery store and you're low on gas, you have to get some. Not everybody can stay locked up in their houses for a weeks at a time, never ever venturing outside.

You can order groceries for delivery, make sure you wear gloves when you pump gas and wash, wash, wash your hands. Wear a mask, even a cotton mask when going outside. Below is a great piece of info from a doctor in New York. It’s long, but there’s very good info about 10 minutes in. Maybe there’s a reason the countries where people have been wearing masks when outside for years have much lower infection rates.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YitWZj9QhdQ

[TheTravellers]

You can order groceries for delivery, make sure you wear gloves when you pump gas and wash, wash, wash your hands. ...

Yes, definitely, always do those things, I just didn't say it explicitly. But don't forget that there are lots of people that can't order groceries for delivery - they might not have internet, smartphones, etc. Not thought about much, but those folks exist...

[kukblue1]

If you have to go to work, you have to - my wife works at the House of Reps as a proofing specialist and their job can't be done remotely and lawsausage-making has to go on. She's on very reduced hours, but still has to go in if they need her. And if you're out of food, you have to get some, and if you have to go to work or the grocery store and you're low on gas, you have to get some. Not everybody can stay locked up in their houses for a weeks at a time, never ever venturing outside.

I think the only thing that should be open gas stations pharmacies grocery stores and Home Depot and Lowe's I'm sorry but going through Taco Bell drive-thru is not an essential necessity

[BBatesokc]

You can order groceries for delivery, make sure you wear gloves when you pump gas and wash, wash, wash your hands. Wear a mask, even a cotton mask when going outside. Below is a great piece of info from a doctor in New York. It’s long, but there’s very good info about 10 minutes in. Maybe there’s a reason the countries where people have been wearing masks when outside for years have much lower infection rates.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YitWZj9QhdQ

Not everyone can order their groceries online. Additionally, I tried it twice and both times I was able to place the order, only later to be informed many things I had ordered were no longer available. Additionally, ordering means a third party touching all of your items.

Simply telling people to “wear gloves while pumping gas” is woefully inadequate unless the person fully understands how to properly wear, dispose of and the limitations of gloves - their purpose is to prevent cross contamination. You put them on, touch the apparatus and touch anything else, you’ve just potentially cross contaminated: credit card, purse, wallet, door handle, steering wheel, cell phone, etc.

Same goes for wearing masks - which neither gloves or masks addresses the eyes - another mucous membrane and potential infection site.

Of course, we are going to hear more and more reworking of the rules by the government and media... Now basically a scarf is okay, when it was scoffed at 2 weeks ago. Why? Psychology. The masses are seeing the death toll go higher and higher and can’t handle being helpless to stop it. So, give the masses something to do and a false sense of security.

Staying home and away from everyone else is an individual’s best bet.

Unfortunately, most of us are unable and/or unwilling to do that.

By sheer luck, most of us will be fine simply because the virus, while highly contagious is not highly fatal.

[Teo9969]

I hate to be a broken record, but these numbers mean very little until capacity for testing is greatly increased. We've been told that will be this week. We will see these numbers quickly jump over 500 then by the end of the week, we will likely be well over 1000 because we will (hopefully) be testing more cases.

I would assume the hospitalized and death amounts would be substantially well tested. Simple positives and negatives less so.

[emtefury]

Went to Lake Olverholster today for a walk and there were a lot of people out and about. More than I usually see.

[chuck5815]

Went to Lake Olverholster today for a walk and there were a lot of people out and about. More than I usually see.

Were the guys trying to hold her closer or keep things socially distant?

[emtefury]

Were the guys trying to hold her closer or keep things socially distant?

Couples were close. Everyone else distant.

[BBatesokc]

Were the guys trying to hold her closer or keep things socially distant?

I saw what you did there.... (Lake HoldHerCloser)

[Greggo71]

I would assume the hospitalized and death amounts would be substantially well tested. Simple positives and negatives less so.

That makes sense - the big spike in positives we are expecting should actually drop the mortality rate quite a bit.

[Bill Robertson]

I saw what you did there.... (Lake HoldHerCloser)

That’s what everyone called it when I was in high school.

[Pete]

[David]

We're still early days. but that looks like a flattening curve.

[runOKC]

We're still early days. but that looks like a flattening curve.

But look at the negatives. Interesting that they have hardly gone up over the last 3 days. We have definitely not ramped up testing yet by any means.

[SEMIweather]

52 of 54 tests coming back positive does not seem ideal, but honestly this data is somewhat useless since the OSDH isn't including negative test results from private labs for some reason. So as far as I can tell, there's really no way of knowing how much testing is actually being done in OK. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.)

[Pete]

Here's another way to look at the #'s:

[SEMIweather]

The more I think about it, the more I really do not understand why OSDH is not including negative test results from private labs. It really makes the entire data set useless, as we have no clue how many people are actually being tested. Again, someone let me know if I'm missing something, but I've been thinking about this for 10-15 minutes now and that's the conclusion I keep coming to.

[Pete]

Press release:

********************

Oklahoma City to temporarily stop bagged trash pick-up service during COVID-19, Big Blue cart pickup to continue
03/30/2020

The Utilities Department will stop collecting bagged trash and grass clippings set out at the curb beginning Monday, April 6. From that time forward, all bagged trash, including landscape waste, must be placed inside Big Blue trash carts. Do not put grass or other trash loose in the trash carts.

The change is being made to help keep employees who handle bagged trash safe from contamination during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If a customer does not have enough Big Blue carts to accommodate all of their bagged trash or landscape trimmings, they can call Utilities Customer Service at (405) 297-2833 to order additional carts. Each customer can have up to four total Big Blue trash carts, which includes two carts that are part of regular service, and two excess carts. For the duration of the COVID-19 emergency, the Utilities Department will waive its excess cart fees. Once the emergency is declared over, customers may return the additional carts, or keep them at a monthly fee of $2.25 per cart.

If a customer sets out bagged trash alongside their two Big Blue carts, the bagged trash will not be collected, and crews will leave a reminder for residents of the new policy. Bagged trash is also not allowed to be set out for monthly bulky pick-up.

Customers who use commercial contractors for their landscape service need to ask their landscapers to carry off the landscape waste and dispose of it.

One alternative to bagging grass is to mulch it and use it for compost or allow it to sit on top of the grass as a moisture barrier. Grass is not to be swept or blown down the City’s storm drains.

For more information, or to order a cart, call Utilities Customer Service at (405) 297-2833.

[Snowman]

The more I think about it, the more I really do not understand why OSDH is not including negative test results from private labs. It really makes the entire data set useless, as we have no clue how many people are actually being tested. Again, someone let me know if I'm missing something, but I've been thinking about this for 10-15 minutes now and that's the conclusion I keep coming to.

Even if it was from something like their process was more accurate, it seems like that could be reported as separate statistics

[SEMIweather]

Even if it was from something like their process was more accurate, it seems like that could be reported as separate statistics

Agreed. Because if 52 of 54 test results are really coming back positive, that would not be good news. Obviously there have to be additional negative test results from private labs, but without knowing those numbers, it's extremely tough to draw any conclusions from the data that is being provided.

[SoonerDave]

Here's another way to look at the #'s:

I don't intend to be unduly optimistic here, but the trend of those numbers is what I would say is *cautiously encouraging*, especially those hospitalization rates.

And I agree with other posters here 100% that we should be getting ALL the results from ALL the labs, positive and negative. The overall numbers are nearly impossible to analyze without the private-lab negative result data.

[PhiAlpha]

Here's another way to look at the #'s:

Way too early to declare victory but it would appear that we're at least doing something right.

[Pete]

Press release from the OK Dept. of Health:

**************************

Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize!

Oklahomans are doing a great job implementing social distancing recommendations and observing guidance from state and local authorities, and while that means we are staying home and limiting our exposure to others, we still have essential needs that must be met. To meet those needs, Oklahomans still need to go to the grocery store to pick up bread and milk and eggs. We still have to put gas in the car. For others, delivery services have been critical – bringing food, toilet paper, and other items straight to our doors.

But wait. All those items that are coming into our homes, have been touched by multiple hands, traveled by plane, truck and car to reach you. But what can you do about that? You have to have these items, so how will you maintain your individual and household needs and also protect yourself from potential spread of COVID-19. Should we be worried?

Good news folks – the risk of COVID-19 spreading through your delivered groceries and bars of soap are pretty low. In fact, the CDC doesn’t recommend anything special for how you handle packages received in the mail, or that you pick up at the grocery store. The CDC does recommend you continue to observe social distance practices and remain vigilant in your personal hygiene. There are a few extra precautionary measures you can take to reduce risk even more when you are bringing goods into your home.

• If you are having food delivered, avoid direct contact with the food courier by leaving payment (if needed) outside the door and instructions on where to leave your food package.
• When returning from a trip to the grocery store, gas station or food pick up, be sure to immediately wash your hands and any re-useable bags you may shop with.
• Don’t leave empty take out boxes on your counters or other hard surfaces, make sure they land in your sink or your trash bin.
• Continue to regularly disinfect high touch areas in your home – doorknobs, faucet handles and light switches are examples.

As long as we all keep doing our part, we can continue to slow the spread and flatten the curve here in Oklahoma. Let’s do this!

[HangryHippo]

What in the hell is the reason for not including test results (both +/-) in the data they're releasing?

[Greggo71]

Another thing to keep in mind is most people outside the main risk groups (elderly/immune compromised) are not being tested even though they are displaying symptoms. So in all likelihood, there are many more people running around with the Rona than are reflected in the numbers. On the positive side though, these people would be included in the death count if they had died, so the mortality rate is likely far below what is being reported.