Covid-19 in OKC (coronavirus)

[burlap]

Other countries seem to have it figured out on both fronts so I'm sure there is some improvement to be made.

It is conservatives in congress and business lobbying which has thwarted this for years. I have yet to see any leadership on the topic from the people that matter and could make changes.

[RustytheBailiff]

The bottom line is that many, many families rely on schools as daycare.

This is particularly true of the working class.

That is true, however, without sufficient testing in place the schools will be a petri dish spreading the virus though out the community. Since is has been six months since the initial outbreak and we still do not have adequate testing, I do not see how we can reopen schools safely. At a bare minimum, we need to follow the suggestion that Ed Shadid posted upthread, either yesterday or the day prior, wherein we test not only for temperature, but a scratch and sniff test be administered (I believe he noted that 80% of those infected lose their sense of smell) and a blood/oxygen sensor check. And of course, all teachers and students (after a certain age) need to wear masks and all activities that can (ie Gym Class) should be held outside in fresh air.


BE SAFE WEAR MASKS

[burlap]

That is true, however, without sufficient testing in place the schools will be a petri dish spreading the virus though out the community. Since is has been six months since the initial outbreak and we still do not have adequate testing, I do not see how we can reopen schools safely. At a bare minimum, we need to follow the suggestion that Ed Shadid posted upthread, either yesterday or the day prior, wherein we test not only for temperature, but a scratch and sniff test be administered (I believe he noted that 80% of those infected lose their sense of smell) and a blood/oxygen sensor check. And of course, all teachers and students (after a certain age) need to wear masks and all activities that can (ie Gym Class) should be held outside in fresh air.


BE SAFE WEAR MASKS

This should spark the long debate on class sizes, and how there are too many kids in a single class due to budget cuts over the years. Class size and space will be one of the most important factor going forward.

[jerrywall]

The school issue is definitely the most torn on any issue I've been so far. There is so much positive & negative that will come from sending kids to school this fall. I'm not sure how any side can ignore both. I'm not sure what the solution is, don't really think there is one.

I wonder if there is some way that kids can go to school in shifts to cut down on class room size. Kind of like the Kindergarten morning/noon schedule.

Also, I know in middle school high school most students have their own schedules were they rotate to different classrooms. I wonder if they could make sure all kids stayed in the same groups while they rotated. That might help slow some of the spread if they aren't around as many kids.

At my mother's elementary school a new principle is taking over this fall. This principle has decided that 4th and 5th grade classes should also move around for certain subjects throughout the day, so they'll be switching around classrooms (all at the same time in the same crowded hallway) 4 times a day. This is against the advice of the teachers, who are pretty upset about it, and a lot of the parents. They're taking absolutely no special precautions at this point and their plan for opening school back up is just a "hope it all works out". This is a smaller district, but it's just on the edge of the metro and it's not that small. It doesn't give me much hope for this fall.

[Pete]

Just to be clear, I am not advocating that schools should reopen for in-class instruction.

Merely pointing out that if they don't, there will be a massive burden on those who rely on schools to look after their kids during the day.

It's not just annoyance at having to deal with them or lack of socialization, there are millions of families that will be economically devastated.

[jccouger]

Just to be clear, I am not advocating that schools should reopen for in-class instruction.

Merely pointing out that if they don't, there will be a massive burden on those who rely on schools to look after their kids during the day.

It's not just annoyance at having to deal with them or lack of socialization, there are millions of families that will be economically devastated.

I'm with you Pete. This is absolutely the hardest situation to navigate so far with the virus.

[jccouger]

At my mother's elementary school a new principle is taking over this fall. This principle has decided that 4th and 5th grade classes should also move around for certain subjects throughout the day, so they'll be switching around classrooms (all at the same time in the same crowded hallway) 4 times a day. This is against the advice of the teachers, who are pretty upset about it, and a lot of the parents. They're taking absolutely no special precautions at this point and their plan for opening school back up is just a "hope it all works out". This is a smaller district, but it's just on the edge of the metro and it's not that small. It doesn't give me much hope for this fall.

Ridiculous. It wouldn't even be that hard to implement. Especially since schools are supposed to be led by people teaching learning to our students. SMH.

[Pete]

Where is the leadership on schools or for that matter, much of anything regarding how we deal with this virus?

It's just "SCHOOLS MUST REOPEN" but then there is no real plan or guidance. It was largely the same for economic reopening. Even with provided guidelines they were almost universally ignored with no consequences.

Every single school and business is facing incredible challenges and everyone understands and wants to move forward, but we are failing terribly as a rich country with almost unlimited resources while everyone else seems to have put this under control months ago (except Brazil but only because they have taken the same irresponsible approach).


I don't care how you spin this, we are in a horrible position and with school and cooler months looming, what evidence is there of improvement?

If you stand back from this, it's nothing short of catastrophic and things have to change and fast.

[FighttheGoodFight]

Where is the leadership on schools or for that matter, much of anything regarding how we deal with this virus?

It's just "SCHOOLS MUST REOPEN" but then there is no real plan or guidance. It was largely the same for economic reopening. Even with provided guidelines they were almost universally ignored with no consequences.

Every single school and business is facing incredible challenges and everyone understands and wants to move forward, but we are failing terribly as a rich country with almost unlimited resources while everyone else seems to have put this under control months ago (except Brazil but only because they have taken the same irresponsible approach).


I don't care how you spin this, we are in a horrible position and with school and cooler months looming, what evidence is there of improvement?

If you stand back from this, it's nothing short of catastrophic and things have to change and fast.

I think this should come from the school superintendent. That being said if you have ever been to or been a part of a rural school district good luck telling them to do anything. You might get some structure in Edmond, OKC, Norman or Moore but in Skiatook or Gotebo... not happening. They are going to do the same they always have.

[LocoAko]

At the very least I feel masks should be required for all students and teachers (maybe above a certain grade level), but somehow I doubt even that will happen in many districts. At the risk of putting words in their mouth, my spouse did not sign up to be a frontline worker trapped indoors with thousands of unmasked potential disease vectors for 8 hours a day, every day, and I feel like few are considering the risks to teachers and support staff in their calculations. I know something needs to be figured out to allow schools to reopen for myriad reasons, but I'm getting increasingly freaked out about the risk they're about to assume (and bring home with them).

[TheTravellers]

Timely and related to LocoAko's post above.

Yes, You Can Dine At Reopened Restaurants. But Is It Ethical?

"“This is a difficult question,” said ethicist Randy Cohen. “People who go out to eat potentially put the servers at risk, but people have to live and people need jobs.” Cohen, the author of “Be Good: How to Navigate the Ethics of Everything,” acknowledged that well-intentioned people may wish to support restaurateurs. And he refused to scapegoat the people he’s seen crowded into dining rooms and bars.

“What this shows is the utter futility of individual solutions,” he said. “We set national standards for workplace safety — even without the pandemic — so to leave this question to some individual who wants to go out and get a pizza seems like madness to me.”"

"While Cohen acknowledged the potential value of supporting local businesses in a cratering economy, he compared indoor pandemic dining to buying T-shirts made in a sweatshop; if you do it, you’re accepting that your own pleasure could cause harm to others. He also dismissed the possibility of buying your way out of guilt by leaving an extra big tip. “It does not get you off the hook,” he said. “It’s not a fee you pay to engage in antisocial behavior.”

For Cohen, the image of diners tipping big to offset endangering servers evoked scenes in Paris just before guillotines came rumbling out: “It’s like some 18th-century person with a nice powdered wig, getting into a coach and tossing some money.”"

[TheTravellers]

Not strictly OKC, but here's an article that includes a link to download the spreadsheet of who received PPP funds in OK in excess of $150,000.

https://nondoc.com/2020/07/07/oklahoma-ppp-money/

[HangryHippo]

Not strictly OKC, but here's an article that includes a link to download the spreadsheet of who received PPP funds in OK in excess of $150,000.

https://nondoc.com/2020/07/07/oklahoma-ppp-money/

I've been looking for something like this. Thanks for sharing!

[soonerguru]

I don’t want anybody to get sick I promise you that, but for the sake of the kids psychological well being this needs to happen. They need to be around kids their own age so they learn how to work through problems and socialize and to grow. You cannot do that if you’re not around the same age of people. The school districts should be on top of this, how to wear a mask how to wash/sanitize hands in classroom.

I have a teacher in my family who would be forced to enter that virus sponge every day. Our schools are filthy on a good day. There were rats at Classen SAS. Schools will be death traps for faculty and staff.

People are being delusional right now because they have refused to take this seriously, but suddenly want everything to go back to “normal.” It ain’t happening in this state in this country any time soon because people are just too stupid and selfish to do the right thing and our president issues medical disinformation on a daily basis.

The discussions regarding returning to school amount to posturing. I cannot imagine the lawsuits that will ensue if they are dumb enough to go through with reopening.

[AP]

673 today.

[Pete]

Yes, 673 new cases and 3 more deaths.

Cumulative hospitalizations went up 63.

[midtownokcer]

Not a good trend...

[liirogue]

What was the highest number of hospitalizations this spring?

[pw405]

I could see many teachers refusing to come back. I know most need the money, but I would believe that a fair amount of teachers have a two income household and figure they're better off roughing it on one income for a school year than potentially getting Covid. This of course further will contribute to class size, diminish education, and require substitutes and emergency certifications. Great! I'm so tired if winning.

[soonerguru]

Regarding schools reopening:

https://oklahoman.com/article/feed/1...ts-dont-reopen

[PhiAlpha]

I have a teacher in my family who would be forced to enter that virus sponge every day. Our schools are filthy on a good day. There were rats at Classen SAS. Schools will be death traps for faculty and staff.

People are being delusional right now because they have refused to take this seriously, but suddenly want everything to go back to “normal.” It ain’t happening in this state in this country any time soon because people are just too stupid and selfish to do the right thing and our president issues medical disinformation on a daily basis.

The discussions regarding returning to school amount to posturing. I cannot imagine the lawsuits that will ensue if they are dumb enough to go through with reopening.

You are oversimplifying an extremely complex and important issue, especially as Pete mentioned above, for people who completely rely on schools as a daycare so that they can go to work. Reopening schools is far from dumb and will in many ways be necessary for a myriad of reasons. The goal should be figuring out how to do it safely, not figuring out how to avoid doing it at all.

[BoulderSooner]

I have a teacher in my family who would be forced to enter that virus sponge every day. Our schools are filthy on a good day. There were rats at Classen SAS. Schools will be death traps for faculty and staff.

People are being delusional right now because they have refused to take this seriously, but suddenly want everything to go back to “normal.” It ain’t happening in this state in this country any time soon because people are just too stupid and selfish to do the right thing and our president issues medical disinformation on a daily basis.

The discussions regarding returning to school amount to posturing. I cannot imagine the lawsuits that will ensue if they are dumb enough to go through with reopening.

this has little basis in reality

[FighttheGoodFight]

What was the highest number of hospitalizations this spring?

KocoDillon posts a good graph daily.

https://twitter.com/kocodillon/statu...420589056?s=21

[Bill Robertson]

I just looked at Italy’s data, and it shows similar trends to that described above. Their total cases peaked sometime in early April and their deaths peaked around mid-April. The interesting thing about the death curve is that it really ramped up about a week after the first cases started rolling in. The death curve didn’t stay flat either. It really ramped up quickly. I’m trying to look for any ray of positivity right now, and the best that I can find is that our growth rates look nothing like NYC and Italy early on. I’m not saying they won’t ramp up, but maybe we’ll flatten the death curve a bit with our current knowledge.

The caveat with comparing directly to NYC and Italy is the relative proportion of older folks impacted early on in this disease. Clearly, our current case counts are affecting a younger class therefore the death trends should be different.

According to the weekly OSDH report Symptoms to hospitalizations have a 6 day median time. Symptoms to death have a 14 day median time.

[RustytheBailiff]

this has little basis in reality

Seems spot on to me.....




STAY SAFE WEAR MASKS