Covid-19 News and Information

[catcherinthewry]

OKC Thunder to require vaccination or negative COVID test to enter arena.



https://www.nba.com/amp/thunder/news....co/CbWsS3346m

That is great news.

[Bullbear]

The news threads of this is as crazy as you'd expect. People who have never went to a game in their lives completely losing it and boycotting..lol

[Plutonic Panda]

Good news for international travel:

https://apple.news/AXSf9-_BRQImaxQAp27fOTw

[stlokc]

I just got back from New York (specifically Queens and Long Island). Every restaurant and bar requires you to show your vaccination card or you just don't get in. This includes the shady dive bar that was next to our hotel in Queens. It was sort of a liberating feeling.

[Plutonic Panda]

So is that really going to be the future where we are going to have show vaccination cards everywhere we go or is it temporary? I’m vaccinated and I wholeheartedly support people getting vaccinated but I just can’t get on board with the government mandating businesses requiring checks. I support a business’s right to do it. Is there anywhere else around the country that is doing that? It really isn’t hard for me as a I have a digital vaccination QR code in my Apple wallet.

[stlokc]

My guess is it won't be our long-term future.

In a few more months, the vax rates will be high enough, combined with the number of people that have had COVID, that the number of cases will drop to more manageable levels. When there aren't many people going to hospitals or dying, it won't be as much of a concern.

But I wouldn't worry about it ever happening "everywhere" in Oklahoma. NYC is so dense and crowded that I'm not surprised it was a thing there.

[Plutonic Panda]

Some great news for the safety of the kids:

https://kfor.com/news/local/covid-19...a-doctors-say/

[unfundedrick]

OKC Thunder to require vaccination or negative COVID test to enter arena.



https://www.nba.com/amp/thunder/news....co/CbWsS3346m

And here is the much expected reaction to that.
https://www.koco.com/article/oklahom...tocol/37681831

"If the Oklahoma City Thunder and their leadership are unwilling to revise this policy, we need to reexamine the significant tax benefits granted to them by the state when they first moved here under the Quality Jobs Act," Roberts continued in the news release. "We also need to consider passing legislation prohibiting discrimination based on vaccination status or having an immunity passport as Montana has done.

[Plutonic Panda]

Maybe she should worry about NE Oklahoma and not OKC. Wasn’t her district one of the original hotspots for the delta outbreak?

[dankrutka]

So is that really going to be the future where we are going to have show vaccination cards everywhere we go or is it temporary?

Of course it's not permanent. We are in the throes of very high COVID spread right now. When numbers decline all these policies will disappear too.

[Rover]

Of course it's not permanent. We are in the throes of very high COVID spread right now. When numbers decline all these policies will disappear too.

Maybe. We used to think that all the airport security was overkill and now it is just an expected part of life in order to be safe. And Covid has killed way more Americans than terrorists have (domestic AND foreign terrorists). TODAY'S deaths will be the equivalent of 5 or 6 airliners crashing and killing everyone.

[Pete]

2,244 new cases reported today. Last several Wednesdays: 1,966; 1,310; 2,538; 2,534; 2,360; 2,105; 2,160.

7-day average now 1,550.

Hospitalizations are 1,235 (-92).

ICU is 363 (-23).

[TheTravellers]

COVID-19: Death rate still a concern as case counts dip; nearly 1 in 400 Oklahomans have died due to virus

"The high death rate ranks Oklahoma No. 7 in the U.S., and Dr. Dale Bratzler of OU Health said Wednesday the number of ICU patients currently hospitalized means fatalities are going to keep rising.

"When you're at 10,000 deaths in Oklahoma, that means that 1 in every 400 Oklahomans have died of COVID-19," he said, higher than the national average of 1 in 500. "So it's fairly profound to think about. …

"It's a substantial death toll that I don't think any of us ever expected we would see.""

[TheTravellers]

Santa Fe South was the first district to implement a mask mandate in Oklahoma this fall. Here’s how it’s going

[Pete]

2,361 new cases today. Last several Thursdays: 2,263; 2,452; 3,274; 4,152; 2,502; 2,468, 2,342.

7-day average now 1,584.

Hospitalizations are 1,205 (-30).

ICU is 353 (-10).

[TheTravellers]

Basically confirming what we know. Emphasis mine.

Evidence shows that, yes, masks prevent COVID-19 – and surgical masks are the way to go

"Before this study there was a lack of gold-standard evidence on the effectiveness of masks to reduce COVID-19 in daily life. Our study provides strong real-world evidence that surgical masks reduce COVID-19, particularly for older adults who face higher rates of death and disability if they get infected.

Policymakers and public health officials now have evidence from laboratories, models, observations and real-world trials that support mask-wearing to reduce respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. Given that COVID-19 can so easily spread from person to person, if more people wear masks the benefits increase.

So next time you are wondering if you should wear a mask, the answer is yes. Cloth masks are likely better than nothing, but high-quality surgical masks or masks with even higher filtration efficiency and better fit – such as KF94s, KN95s and N95s – are the most effective at preventing COVID-19."

[Pete]

1,230 new cases today. Last several Fridays: 2,124; 2,627; 3,080; 3,338; 2,851; 2,814; 2,302.

7- day average now 1,760.

Hospitalizations are 1,172 (-33). That is down from 1,607 on 8/26.

ICU is 347 (-6). That is down from 448 on 9/2.

[Pete]

Week over week:

-2,445 new cases. 7-day average -349.

277 additional reported deaths. Last several weeks: 252, 204, 218, 117, 106, 80, 40. 277 is the most deaths reported in any week since the pandemic started, and now more than 10,000 Oklahomans have died.

Hospitalizations are -209.

ICU is -39.

[Midtowner]

An anecdote from today. Got to visit with an OKCPS principal after interviewing a couple of younger clients of mine at school. Complimented her on the masking policy and telling them that 99% of parents are behind them and that the folks showing up to complain are a small minority. They were fully expecting to have about 20% opt out. In their entire school, I won't reveal the actual number to protect the identity of the principal/school, but let's say the % of mask opt outers are less than 1%. And they haven't had too many cases, and what cases they have had, the children were not exposed at school. Way to go OKCPS.

[Pete]

5,346 new cases for the 3-day period. Last several Mondays: 5,998; 7,380; 7,827; 6,218; 6,967.

7-day average now 1,597.

Hospitalizations are 1,181 (+9).

ICU is 357 (+10).

[corwin1968]

An anecdote from today. Got to visit with an OKCPS principal after interviewing a couple of younger clients of mine at school. Complimented her on the masking policy and telling them that 99% of parents are behind them and that the folks showing up to complain are a small minority. They were fully expecting to have about 20% opt out. In their entire school, I won't reveal the actual number to protect the identity of the principal/school, but let's say the % of mask opt outers are less than 1%. And they haven't had too many cases, and what cases they have had, the children were not exposed at school. Way to go OKCPS.

For a bit there, we were getting "Covid positive student and/or staff" e-mails daily. but now I don't remember when the last one went out. At least a week, maybe closer to two weeks.

[Richard at Remax]

Got my booster shot yesterday at CVS. I was originally phase 3. I was just testing the system to see if I could actually get through. I clicked the option that I was in a high risk profession (which could easily be debated) but it let me schedule. If there wasn't almost a 50 open slots I wouldn't have tried it.

Got to CVS and they only asked for my card. No questions asked. In and out in 15 min. So If you are eligible, regardless of what phase you were originally, go through CVS to get it. Tons of spots open today at 33rd and Santa Fe in Edmond

Booster Shot Scheduler Link - https://www.cvs.com/vaccine/intake/s...ener/covid-qns

[Bill Robertson]

^
At least so far getting a booster doesn't seem like it's going to be like the first round. Both the big Walmart and Neighborhood Walmart by us are doing them walk-in.

[Pete]

648 new cases reported today. Last several Tuesdays: 484; 1,029; 1,719; 1,794; 862.

7-day average continues to go down at 1,369.

Hospitalizations are 1,040 (-141).

ICU is 324 (-33).

[Pete]

1,500 new cases reported today. Last several Wednesdays: 2,244; 1,966; 1,310; 2,538; 2,534; 2,360.

7-day average now 1,246.

Hospitalizations are 1,045 (+5).

ICU is 323 (-1).