Covid-19 News and Information

[Bill Robertson]

There was a footnote regarding hospitalizations:

"Today's rise in the number of hospitalizations reported is due to some hospitals reporting a full week of data in one day versus the daily reports we would expect. Today's number does not reflect the actual day over day increase we've seen this month," the health department wrote.

[soonerguru]

It does seem that cases of omicron have truly peaked and are on the down slope. Hopefully this hospitalization challenge will begin to rectify itself in another week or two.

[Pete]

Press release:

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

OSDH to Distribute N95 Masks to Local Pharmacies Across the State from state supply

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is working to make sure Oklahomans have widely available access to N95 masks in the state.

In partnership with the Oklahoma Pharmacists Association and pharmacy partners around the state, the OSDH will be distributing N95 masks around the state to local pharmacies through a distribution system that will provide Oklahomans the opportunity to go to their local pharmacies to receive N95 masks, free of charge.

Through the OSDH and Federal Government distributions, local, independent pharmacies and pharmacies that are a part of the Federal Retail Providers program will have N95 masks available to Oklahomans throughout the state.

“With the highly transmissible omicron variant we know that the quality of the mask someone chooses to wear matters,” said Michael DeRemer, director of emergency preparedness and response service for the OSDH. “We want to make sure all Oklahomans have access to the best mask possible to protect themselves and others from this virus, no matter where they live and at no-cost.”

The first shipment of masks was sent to select pharmacies on Thursday, Jan. 27 with the next shipment, to additional pharmacies, occurring on Monday, Jan. 31.

In total, the OSDH will be distributing a total of just over 500,000 N95 masks across the state

The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) protects and improves public health through its system of local health services and strategies focused on preventing disease. OSDH provides technical support and guidance to 68 county health departments in Oklahoma, as well as guidance and consultation to the two independent city-county health departments in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Learn more at Oklahoma.gov/health.

[Bill Robertson]

It does seem that cases of omicron have truly peaked and are on the down slope. Hopefully this hospitalization challenge will begin to rectify itself in another week or two.

I really hope so. The hospital staffs really need a break.

[Pete]

Even if new cases have peaked, hospitalization and ICU lag.

And, even though numbers were slightly less than last week, they are still astronomically high, especially when you consider that many people are not being tested or are using home tests that are not included in the reported totals.

[Bill Robertson]

Even if new cases have peaked, hospitalization and ICU lag.

And, even though numbers were slightly less than last week, they are still astronomically high, especially when you consider that many people are not being tested or are using home tests that are not included in the reported totals.

True. And why we need to hope that our cases will drop as fast as other states have once they started falling. Then, eventually hospitalizations will follow.

[HangryHippo]

True. And why we need to hope that our cases will drop as fast as other states have once they started falling. Then, eventually hospitalizations will follow.

Awfully optimistic considering the "mutant Omicron" that Denmark and the UK believe may be even more contagious than the currently dominant Omicron.

[Bill Robertson]

Awfully optimistic considering the "mutant Omicron" that Denmark and the UK believe may be even more contagious than the currently dominant Omicron.

The "second" Omicron was actually discovered about the same time as the currently dominant Omicron. Here's a good article:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-o...2-variant/#app

And yes, I'm going to be optimistic. Much more negativity and it won't be COVID that kills me!

[soonerguru]

Press release:

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

OSDH to Distribute N95 Masks to Local Pharmacies Across the State from state supply

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is working to make sure Oklahomans have widely available access to N95 masks in the state.

In partnership with the Oklahoma Pharmacists Association and pharmacy partners around the state, the OSDH will be distributing N95 masks around the state to local pharmacies through a distribution system that will provide Oklahomans the opportunity to go to their local pharmacies to receive N95 masks, free of charge.

Through the OSDH and Federal Government distributions, local, independent pharmacies and pharmacies that are a part of the Federal Retail Providers program will have N95 masks available to Oklahomans throughout the state.

“With the highly transmissible omicron variant we know that the quality of the mask someone chooses to wear matters,” said Michael DeRemer, director of emergency preparedness and response service for the OSDH. “We want to make sure all Oklahomans have access to the best mask possible to protect themselves and others from this virus, no matter where they live and at no-cost.”

The first shipment of masks was sent to select pharmacies on Thursday, Jan. 27 with the next shipment, to additional pharmacies, occurring on Monday, Jan. 31.

In total, the OSDH will be distributing a total of just over 500,000 N95 masks across the state

The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) protects and improves public health through its system of local health services and strategies focused on preventing disease. OSDH provides technical support and guidance to 68 county health departments in Oklahoma, as well as guidance and consultation to the two independent city-county health departments in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Learn more at Oklahoma.gov/health.

It's hilarious that OSDH press releases like this act like this didn't come straight from the federal government. They assiduously avoid any mention of it. It's as if they had people out there scouting the universe for masks for Oklahomans. Gee, thanks so much OSDH for opening the mail!

From the release: “We want to make sure all Oklahomans have access to the best mask possible to protect themselves and others from this virus, no matter where they live and at no-cost.”

What a joke they they didn't mention that these were given to them to distribute by the Biden Administration and they are trying to act like their "Covid czar" sourced them out of the goodness of OSDH's heart.

[soonerguru]

Awfully optimistic considering the "mutant Omicron" that Denmark and the UK believe may be even more contagious than the currently dominant Omicron.

This was made out to be more than it is. Also, hard to imagine anything more contagious than the main variant. It's probably the most contagious disease to ever hit the planet.

[HangryHippo]

This was made out to be more than it is. Also, hard to imagine anything more contagious than the main variant. It's probably the most contagious disease to ever hit the planet.

Hard to say considering the upticks those places saw in cases again shortly after Omicron BA.1 had become the dominant strain. And it's not the most contagious disease to hit the planet - that would be measles.

[baralheia]

This was made out to be more than it is. Also, hard to imagine anything more contagious than the main variant. It's probably the most contagious disease to ever hit the planet.

Almost. I believe german measles is the only thing more contagious - it's basic reproductive number (R0) is between 12-18, whereas the Omicron strain of COVID has a R0 between 7-14. That said, Omicron has a much shorter incubation period so it effectively spreads much, much faster.

[Bill Robertson]

Hard to say considering the upticks those places saw in cases again shortly after Omicron BA.1 had become the dominant strain. And it's not the most contagious disease to hit the planet - that would be measles.

But again B1.A and B1.B were discovered about the same time. B1.A took off like lightning and B1.B hasn't. If it does I'll eat crow but so far it's not a big deal.

[Pete]

10,539 new cases today. Last couple of Saturdays: 13,571; 14,403 -- only have been reporting on Saturday for a few weeks.

Hospitalizations are 2,227 (-16).

ICU is 422 (-6).

[Bill Robertson]

10,539 new cases today. Last couple of Saturdays: 13,571; 14,403 -- only have been reporting on Saturday for a few weeks.

Hospitalizations are 2,227 (-16).

ICU is 422 (-6).

It's looking more like cases have peaked for this surge. Now we need hospitalizations to follow. Which they will at some point.

[Pete]

For the 3-day period (Sat, Sun, Mon) there were 23,798 new cases. Last several 3-day totals: 27,510; 42,157; 27,058; 12,023.

Hospitalizations are 2,142 (-85).

ICU is 411 (-11).

[Plutonic Panda]

OSDH to distribute N95 masks across the state:

https://www.news9.com/story/61f7e3f0...ross-the-state

[LocoAko]

Finally got my government-provided Covid tests in the mail yesterday.

[Pete]

2,435 new cases today. Last several Tuesdays: 8,810; 3,853; 5,011; 4,110; 2,443; 564.

Hospitalizations are 2,017 (-125).

ICU is 404 (-7).

[Bill Robertson]

2,435 new cases today. Last several Tuesdays: 8,810; 3,853; 5,011; 4,110; 2,443; 564.

Hospitalizations are 2,017 (-125).

ICU is 404 (-7).

Glad to see hospital numbers dropping pretty steadily for a few days. Not quickly but at least dropping.

[Pete]

4,588 new cases today. Last several Wednesdays: 8,160; 10,001; 5,507; 3,914; 765.

Hospitalizations are 1,980 (-37).

ICU is 409 (+5).

[G.Walker]

With schools and businesses being closed for a few days, and limited social interactions will really slow down the spread, good deal.

[Zuplar]

https://apnews.com/article/coronavir...690783b7382b2b

I wonder when we are going to get to this point.

[OKCretro]

Finally got my government-provided Covid tests in the mail yesterday.

how long did it take and do they have an expiration date?

[Pete]

^

The government-issued tests that I received about 10 days ago have a use-by date of 6/23/22.