Covid-19 News and Information

[OKCbyTRANSFER]

OKC County Health Dept. has opened the drive thru building on the NE campus for Covid testing, I saw today. All 6 lanes should be opened for access.

[corwin1968]

Masking is not enough. They should cancel in-person classes. Omicron is way more contagious than any other variant.

Once again, I'm disappointed in OKCPS' Covid response. Last night, the decision to close either the Capital Hill or U.S. Grant feeder pattern was discussed and even though the two have the same number of people out, U.S. Grant had more subs available, so they kept it open and put Capital Hill on virtual.

At this point, the school buildings are just giant Covid incubators. If Omicron really is expected to peak and decline quickly, they should just go all virtual for a few weeks.

[Roger S]

I'm starting to feel left out.... I know people that have had it twice now and I haven't had it once. <----Just injecting a little humor into the conversation.

Kind of amazing what some precaution and a few shots can do for you because while I have mostly avoided crowds. I have done a lot of travelling over the last 2 years.

[BoulderSooner]

I'm starting to feel left out.... I know people that have had it twice now and I haven't had it once. <----Just injecting a little humor into the conversation.

Kind of amazing what some precaution and a few shots can do for you because while I have mostly avoided crowds. I have done a lot of travelling over the last 2 years.

per the CDC director your shots don't do anything to stop you from getting Omicron

[Jersey Boss]

per the CDC director your shots don't do anything to stop you from getting Omicron

Who said they did?

[Roger S]

per the CDC director your shots don't do anything to stop you from getting Omicron

You are correct....Perhaps it's due to the precaution?

[jerrywall]

Kind of amazing what some precaution and a few shots can do for you because while I have mostly avoided crowds. I have done a lot of travelling over the last 2 years.

I HAVEN'T done a lot of travelling over the last 2 years, or going out, or having a social life, or seeing family, or anything else and we have been strict on mask wearing and precautions. I have also had my shots and boosters (as has my wife and kids) and yet I am just now recovering from Covid (our entire house is sick). At this point it's as much down to dumb luck as any sort of precaution. Certainly, doing the smart things lower the odds, but it is crazy how prevalent it is right now. I managed to make it a couple years in without getting Covid, so I'm fairly happy about that I guess.

[David]

per the CDC director your shots don't do anything to stop you from getting Omicron

Sure, but they will almost certainly stop you from being hospitalized for it which seems like a pretty important detail.

[Pete]

5,011 new cases today. 7-day average now 6,398.

As bad as last week was (28,655 new cases), we have already surpassed that in just 4 days this week (32,069).

Hospitalizations are 1,117 (-33).

ICU is 277 (-17).

[PoliSciGuy]

The only "good news" might be that we are expected to peak here in the next week or so: https://covid19.healthdata.org/unite...est=infections

The downside is that this model anticipates ~4,500 hospitalizations by Valentine's day, which is 1,500 more than our last peak

https://covid19.healthdata.org/unite...=all_resources

[Pete]

The downside is that this model anticipates ~4,500 hospitalizations by Valentine's day, which is 1,500 more than our last peak

The all-time high for hospitalizations is 1,607.

[Pete]

5,507 new cases today. 7-day average now 6,288.

Hospitalizations are 1,288 (+207).

ICU is 297 (+20).

[C_M_25]

I'm so frustrated today. I woke up with a sore throat and congestion, so I figured that I should probably go get tested. I waited in line for 3 HOURS!! I still had another hour or two of waiting ahead of me. The urge to go to the bathroom was too great so I bailed. Currently, I feel fine with no sign of the sore throat. I don't understand how these testing sites are so slow...

[Zuplar]

When I went last week to get tested I made my appointment the day before and took me no more than 2 minutes once I pulled in. I did the Immy labs location at the YMCA at Earlywine. My wife went and later took our kid and said she had a very similar experience. Couldn't have been easier.

[Jersey Boss]

I scheduled a PCR test with IMMY Monday morning for an available time slot of 2:20 on Monday. Total time waiting at SW Med Center was about 30 minutes in my car. Tested at 2:30 and had results at 4 yesterday afternoon. No complaints about any of it.

[Libbymin]

I went and got my booster at my GP's office the other day and the doctor was the one giving it to me which I thought was odd. He looked at me and said " guess why I'm the one giving you the shot? Because the other nurses are out with COVID".

We knew this thing was contagious going into this wave but it's still pretty astonishing to see just how quickly this thing has spread.

[Pete]

OKC public schools closing for the rest of the week due to so many teachers being out with Covid.

Same with Yukon and Mid-Del schools.

PC schools have moved all high school and middle school students to distance learning.

[corwin1968]

OKC public schools closing for the rest of the week due to so many teachers being out with Covid.

Same with Yukon and Mid-Del schools.

PC schools have moved all high school and middle school students to distance learning.

OKCPS teachers still have to report to work, despite being perfectly capable of doing the exact same job from home and away from people who might be spreading Covid 19.

[baralheia]

Has there been any indication that the City Council might consider reinstating a mask mandate or any other control measures to help slow this wave down?

[April in the Plaza]

Has there been any indication that the City Council might consider reinstating a mask mandate or any other control measures to help slow this wave down?

They probably would under normal circumstances, but I doubt they'd want to put Holt in that position with the mayoral election less than a month away.

[OKCretro]

Has there been any indication that the City Council might consider reinstating a mask mandate or any other control measures to help slow this wave down?

The data i have seen from places that have mask mandates show Omicron is just as out of control there as it is places without mask mandates. So not sure if there is any point.

Look at the numbers for places like California and the east coast for reference

[soonerguru]

They probably would under normal circumstances, but I doubt they'd want to put Holt in that position with the mayoral election less than a month away.

I don't think that's it at all. For one, it wouldn't hurt him. Recent polling suggests that, combined, Urbanic and Carol are only pulling 11% of the vote. While masks may not be popular in Mustang and Yukon, they are not as unpopular in OKC, and the anti-masking, anti-vaxxing crowd is a tiny subset of OKC civic voters. The numbers are actually quite stunning. Holt has broad support because of his management of the pandemic as well as his management of the office of mayor for the city.

The more likely issue is that masking right now is simply not enough, and too few people would heed the call, and even if they did, it might provide them a false sense of security. The best N-95 mask is not going to be foolproof with this variant. Honestly, this would be the perfect moment for a "Please stay home if you can" message, as opposed to the "put your mask on" argument that has been completely ineffectual of late. So, even if the mayor and council said, "put on your mask," people probably won't enough to make a difference because they are just exhausted by all of this.

I'm surprised by a lot of my friends who were diligent throughout the pandemic about masking and distancing, got vaccinated, got boosters (in most cases), and today seem to have not progressed beyond the "Woohoo, I'm vaxxed, let's Party!" phase during Delta. I realize people are freaking exhausted by this, it's depressing, etc., but there is hope: Omicron models suggest an insane spike (which we are having right now), followed by a sharp fall. Any effort people exert to stay home over the next three weeks could make a massive and dramatic impact for the good. Conversely, throwing on a mask and going to Chili's isn't going to do anything to change this trajectory.

It's been clear for at least a month that Omicron was going to create a massive wave of breakthrough cases unseen to this point. And, it has. Fortunately, even the people I know who got the J&J shot without a booster to date are staying out of the hospital. The vaccines are really proving their mettle now. Not in preventing breakthrough infection, but preparing people's immune system to fight the virus and stay out of the hospital and the morgue. Saying all this, this is nothing to trifle with and based upon your individual circumstances, being vaxxed and boosted is not a 100% get out of jail free card with Omicron.

Today, Saint Anthony posted exact numbers of their patients hospitalized with Covid, and just like with Delta and previous variants, 90% of their hospitalized patients are unvaccinated. The more this story changes, the more it stays the same.

[Zuplar]

There is a good chance that within the next couple of weeks everyone will have had it, and at that point, we might be able to wind this stuff down finally. I know here at the place I work (and granted there is only about 30 people at this office) everyone's had it now within the last 2 weeks. Something similar at my wifes place and it's about quadruple the size of my work. At this point I'm not sure I know anyone that hasn't had it.

[David]

There is a good chance that within the next couple of weeks everyone will have had it, and at that point, we might be able to wind this stuff down finally. I know here at the place I work (and granted there is only about 30 people at this office) everyone's had it now within the last 2 weeks. Something similar at my wifes place and it's about quadruple the size of my work. At this point I'm not sure I know anyone that hasn't had it.

Assuming of course that the entire planet getting the omicron variant doesn't result in yet another omicron-ish variant that escapes some of the established immunity in the population.

There's a reason that vaccines are the actually successful way of reaching herd immunity against a viral disease.

[Pete]

10,502 new cases today; another single-day record. 7-day average now 6,868.

Hospitalizations are 1,361 (+73).

ICU is 302 (+5).