Covid-19 in OKC (coronavirus)

[d-usa]

“**** others, I got mine” sums up the mindset of many.

[OKC Guy]

On my way back from Clark Crew Sat afternoon I drive by WalMart and the parking lot was full like Christmas. Even if we shut down bars and eating places there are masses of people shopping for groceries.

[OKC Guy]

Ran into this article take it with a grain of salt but adds some info to the discussion.

COVID-19 symptoms typically appear 5 days after infection
Popular Science
KATE BAGGALEY
Mar 11th 2020 3:37PM
People who are infected with COVID-19 start showing symptoms within about 5 days on average of being exposed to the new coronavirus, scientists reported March 10. Researchers analyzed 181 confirmed cases of the disease (both from within China and 24 other countries) and found that around half develop COVID-19 within 5 days of exposure and nearly all people who develop symptoms will do so within 12 days.

Understanding this incubation period—the time between when a virus enters a person’s body and when they start feeling sick—is crucial for health officials trying to make decisions about how to respond to the outbreak.

“As we encourage social distancing and even self-isolation of people who may have been exposed, it’s important to have a good understanding of how long it might take symptoms to appear,” Kyra Grantz, a PhD student in infectious disease epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Popular Science in an email.

In order to estimate for how long it takes for symptoms of COVID-19 to appear, the team examined cases reported in news stories and press releases before February 24 that included likely dates of exposure and symptom onset. Most of these people had recently spent time in Wuhan, the city in China’s Hubei province where the outbreak began. Others had contact with people known to have COVID-19 or travelers from Hubei province.

The researchers found that the average time it took for symptoms to appear was 5.5 days, and the median—or midpoint by which half of the people who developed symptoms had started to feel sick—was 5.1 days. Overall, fewer than 2.5 percent of infected people started showing symptoms within 2.2 days, and 97.5 percent had developed symptoms within 11.5 days.

Read the rest of article here:

https://www.aol.com/article/lifestyl...tion/23947244/

[Plutonic Panda]

Mayor Holt is getting slammed on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/davidfholt/statu...336989698?s=21

[Pete]

We are seeing the downside of aggressive capitalism. There are tons of advantages and that underlying approach has helped make this country great, but there is a dark side in situations like the one we are now facing.

1. Most of our culture is based on competitiveness, not cooperation (and as an outgrowth comes the mindset: 'I work hard for my benefits and generally don't care that others don't have good or any healthcare').

2. We are so incredibly fearful of ruining businesses (because we are such a pro-business, pro-commerce society) most of our leaders are delivering mixed messages, which is somewhat understandable. We need people to stay home but by taking too strong a stance, you will ruin tons of businesses which could have devastating effects, and not necessarily just in the short-term.


So, are we supposed to all bunker down or should be out supporting local businesses? It's a very hard line to walk individually, let alone as leaders.

[Plutonic Panda]

It’s also a complex situation. I along with many others have very little in bank account. I will not be able to survive this without having someone sending me money which fortunately for me I have resources to draw from but not everyone has that and many don’t. Many grocery stores are completely out of stock right now anyways less you want to wait in a line for minimum one hour just to check out once you have everything(that is the situation in LA).

If I don’t work I don’t eat and how do I survive then? That’s the situation lots of people will be put in.

I could come back to Oklahoma City for a bit but I’m scare I could have this virus and not know it and infect my father or grandparents who possibly wouldn’t survive it. So more than likely I will stay put.

My conclusion is there is something going on we aren’t being told but I’m not going to dwell on it further than that. It is what it is. Humans seem to forget things pretty quickly and move on. It’s interesting how many people online forums and social media seem to know so much about this virus and the outcome that will prevail.

[OKC Guy]

Lets not forget our blood supply needs constantly replenished:

FDA Calls for Blood Donations in Wake of Coronavirus, Stresses Safety

Penny Starr 12 Mar 2020

The federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is calling on the public to donate blood to ensure the nation has a stable blood supply as the battle against the coronavirus continues.

“We need people to start turning out in force to give blood,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said in the agency’s announcement of the campaign.

The FDA launched the campaign to counter what it says is an unrealistic fear that donating blood could put one at risk for getting the virus.

“The coronavirus does not pose any known risk to blood donors during the donation process or from attending blood drives,” the announcement said.

The agency reported that over the past week blood centers across the country have experienced a significant drop in donations, which is limiting the ability to make sure the nation’s blood supply is replenished and stable.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2...mpression=true

[catch22]

Mayor Holt is getting slammed on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/davidfholt/statu...336989698?s=21

Rightfully so. This is the equivalent of the national weather service only issuing tornado warnings on the confirmed touchdown in a populated area. I am not suggesting he send the city into lockdown, but actively downplaying this and saying everything is OK until we see more evidence is flabbergasting. At least say "we have no reason to believe OKC is highly at risk right now, but it could be in the future. Limit your time in public spaces and be hyper vigilant with sanitary practices."

[pw405]

I ordered takeout from my favorite local Chinese restaurant last night, for a few reasons:

1. Support local businesses, ya we know.

2. Narrow minded racists are discriminating against ANYbody of Asian heritage and think you can get COVID from eating Chinese food.
(Example: one of my closest friends in South Korean - born in US, parents emigrated here decades ago. A few weeks back, long before any OK cases reported, he's playing a game at Soccer City - opposing team yelling "OH NO... CORONA!!!!" when he gets the ball.)

3. Low risk - I figure that these small family businesses will be much better about giving each other time off if somebody feels ill. They know their entire family business is on the line if it would be reported that a worker was sick and infected customers. I do NOT estimate that the national chain employees would use same caution. Somebody working part-time at Taco Bell, McDonalds, Popeye's, etc with no sick paid time off is going to call in sick if they are starting to get a sore throat, etc. Many of these folks are in such financial ruin that they can't afford to take any time off whatsoever. A family business has flexibility in that they can look out for each other if somebody can't come in to work. To mitigate potential risk, I used hand sanitizer after paying, and washed hands thoroughly before eating. Pretty simple.

[Plutonic Panda]

Rightfully so. This is the equivalent of the national weather service only issuing tornado warnings on the confirmed touchdown in a populated area. I am not suggesting he send the city into lockdown, but actively downplaying this and saying everything is OK until we see more evidence is flabbergasting. At least say "we have no reason to believe OKC is highly at risk right now, but it could be in the future. Limit your time in public spaces and be hyper vigilant with sanitary practices."

I agree here. I’m not understanding his approach as he is claiming medical experts are advising waiting until community spread to take any further action but I have read the complete opposite from other medical experts.

[kukblue1]

I have worked in Food Service for 30 years. These people are not going to call it sick they can't afford too.

[OKC Guy]

From OG&E:

The company will suspend all disconnects for the next 30 days. They say it is in part due to the Covid-19 virus which has kept some Oklahomans at home and away from work.

The company says they will not shut off any power to customers who cannot pay their bills. The policy goes into effect immediately

[king183]

Holt’s leadership on this is disappointing, to say the least. He says public health professionals want to see community spread before they take more aggressive action. I’m calling 100% bs on that. But if it’s true, I want to know which public health professionals are advising him because they need to be fired from their jobs. No public health professional says to wait until there is community spread of a virus before taking action. They are all recommending preventive action to AVOID community spread.

Again, just deeply disappointed in Holt and our state leadership.

[Pete]

We are not going to turn this thread into a political discussion.

Get back to discussing the virus situation in OKC otherwise posts are going to get deleted (and I just axed a bunch).

[SoonerDave]

Pioneer Libraries have closed indefinitely due to a COVD case in their service region. For the near-term, that's cost my daughter her job. Metro libraries are following suit.

[OKC Guy]

One way to help local businesses who might see slow downs is to buy a gift card. You can do this online. Can spread out over the next few weeks or so as the slowdown hits them.

Even better is if there existed a needy clearinghouse for local workers most impacted. Ideally you could donate your gift card to an actual worker who got displaced or income severely cut by their place of employment.

[Pete]

This coming from a country which is on total lockdown with police-enforced compliance:

Italy on Sunday announced 368 new deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total death toll in the country to 1,809, according to Civil Protection Department Chief Angelo Borrelli.

Speaking at a press conference in Rome, Borrelli went on to reveal that the total number of positive cases registered in Italy reached 24,747 on Sunday, with an increase of 3,590 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours.

[Mott]

And Abigail Ogle,


Abigail Ogle
@KOCOAbigail
Double exclamation markCORONAVIRUS WARNING: This is from a metro doctor

“The first patient I tested Thursday when I received COVID kits tested POSITIVE!!! This patient had NO travel and NO sick contacts. This means that the virus has been actively circulating in OKC for at least one week....
Seems like we have community spread.

[d-usa]

And Abigail Ogle,


Abigail Ogle
@KOCOAbigail
Double exclamation markCORONAVIRUS WARNING: This is from a metro doctor

“The first patient I tested Thursday when I received COVID kits tested POSITIVE!!! This patient had NO travel and NO sick contacts. This means that the virus has been actively circulating in OKC for at least one week....
Seems like we have community spread.

The low numbers across the US, and Oklahoma, are because of low number of tests and not because of low numbers of patients. That much is for certain.

[TheTravellers]

And Abigail Ogle,


Abigail Ogle
@KOCOAbigail
Double exclamation markCORONAVIRUS WARNING: This is from a metro doctor

“The first patient I tested Thursday when I received COVID kits tested POSITIVE!!! This patient had NO travel and NO sick contacts. This means that the virus has been actively circulating in OKC for at least one week....
Seems like we have community spread.

Not a surprise, this thing's been around a lot longer than most people probably know, since mid-November 2019. And if you're asymptomatic and contagious, who knows how many you've infected, millions and millions have traveled around the world since 11/19, I'm shocked it's not actually worse at this point.

https://www.livescience.com/first-ca...rus-found.html

[Mott]

I have worked in Food Service for 30 years. These people are not going to call it sick they can't afford too.

Yes, and I worked for the BNSF/ATSF for 38 years, good benefits, pay, and retirement, but No sick days! You were expected to come to work and tuff it out. Not a good system in a pandemic.

[catch22]

This coming from a country which is on total lockdown with almost complete compliance:

I put together some charts.


Total cases and deaths Italy and US from 2/23


Same data as above represented on a chart



-----

Same data as above, however represented to compare growth rates by showing the USA's as starting around the same time of virus acceleration. In this instance, 3/4 is to the USA as 2/23 is to Italy.



The dates are purposefully incorrect for the USA in these graphs, 2/23 is correct for Italy. USA growth beginning 3/4 is displayed along with 2/23 Italy
This is using the same data as above but dates are aligned to start at the same time relative to the start of virus acceleration. 3/4 is the end of US data on these charts, but 3/4 is for Italy, which would be 3/14 for the USA. Hope that makes sense.




Source, daily situation reports: https://www.who.int/emergencies/dise...ation-reports/

[d-usa]

I think it’s a lot less useful without knowing the number of people tested.

[mkjeeves]

All bars and restaurants closed to dine-in in Illinois until March 30.

https://wgntv.com/news/coronavirus/a...d-19-concerns/

[Pete]

https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/...hnk/index.html

California to close bars, nightclubs and wineries
From CNN's Stella Chan

All California bars, nightclubs, wineries and brew pubs will be closed because they are "a non-essential function," state Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a press conference Sunday.

Restaurant capacities must be reduced by half to practice social distancing, Newsom said.