Name: COVID-19 records of today will be dwarfed by January if Oklahoma does nothing, White House warns | State and Regional News | tulsaworld.com
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COVID-19 records of today will be dwarfed by January if Oklahoma does nothing, White House warns | State and Regional News | tulsaworld.com

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Please subscribe to keep readingCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeWith records broken daily and the state on track for 8,000-plus new cases in daily COVID-19 reports starting next month, orders are needed “compelling Oklahomans to act differently,” federal officials warn.“The depth of viral spread across Oklahoma remains significant,” the latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report states, with concern for the effect the unmitigated growth will have on an As December begins, a record number of Oklahomans remain hospitalized in intensive care units, and the state has set records for COVID-19 hospitalization in the past six straight reports.Released Wednesday by the state, the task force report urges officials to step up and provides evidence mitigation efforts work.“States and cities that aggressively mitigated (saw) a high plateau and early stability in less than 4 weeks,” according to the Nov. 29-dated report, which notes a seven-plus-week “very prolonged time to peak” in those states where “mitigation efforts remain inadequate, resulting in sustained transmission.”All but three counties in Oklahoma are in the White House’s red zone for high levels of disease spread, with 76 of its 77 counties having at least moderate transmission.The task force described the COVID risk to all Americans as “at a historic high.” If state or local policies don’t reflect the seriousness of the situation, it continued, then all public health officials must alert the public directly.“We are in a very dangerous place due to the current, extremely high COVID baseline and limited hospital capacity; a further post-Thanksgiving surge will compromise COVID patient care, as well as medical care overall,” the White House report warns.Since Oct. 1, 25 of the 41 state executive order reports have shown record COVID-19 hospitalizations in Oklahoma. Wednesday saw the most COVID-19 deaths in daily reporting, 54, since the pandemic began. The previous high was 23 reported Nov. 14.Dr. Jennifer Clark, an expert on health care delivery sciences and a former hospital administrator, said hospital capacity is “starting to be really crunched” in several of the state’s eight hospital regions as wiggle room on staffed ICU beds diminishes.“We need to flatten the curve again pretty quick,” Clark said Wednesday morning during the weekly COVID-19 session of OSU Center for Health Science’s Project ECHO.Clark noted the majority of the state is in Tier 3 of 4 of the state’s revised surge plan, with Oklahoma County approaching the final level that constitutes 40% or more of a region’s patients being COVID-19 positive.Tier 3 is between 20% and 40% of patients with COVID-19. She said several regions might be closer to Tier 4 except that patients suspected — not confirmed — of having infections aren’t counted under the surge plan.Dr. Aaron Wendelboe, former interim state epidemiologist, last week presented sobering projections.Since Oct. 1, Oklahoma’s cases have doubled, he said Nov. 24. Wendelboe said that means there had been as many cases in the past month and a half as in the first six months of the pandemic.Wendelboe said Oklahoma is expected to double its cases again by Dec. 15 and projects to reach more than 8,000 new cases per day by early January. The state’s seven-day moving average of new cases is 2,999 as of Wednesday, down from a high of 3,816 on Nov. 28.If we stay on same trajectory, he said, an additional 2,300 fatal cases in Oklahoma are projected by New Year’s Day; the death toll was 1,812 Oklahomans, as of Wednesday.However, Wendelboe said, simple prevention measures such as masking, keeping a physical distance and handwashing can bend the curve until the vaccines are available, which Oklahomans have done before.“If we are able to reduce the transmission rate similar to where we were at the beginning of October, we can prevent about 100,000 COVID cases and about 1,000 deaths,” Wendelboe said. “These aren’t just numbers; these are our friends, families and neighbors.”Wendelboe said COVID-19 has become the third-leading cause of death in the U.S., behind only heart disease and cancer. So the novel disease is killing more people than accidents, chronic respiratory conditions and stroke, he said.Prior to COVID-19, he added, influenza and pneumonia typically were the nation’s eighth-leading cause of death.“So right now we’re seeing that COVID-19 is responsible for killing 3.5 times as many people as influenza and pneumonia,” Wendelboe said.On Wednesday, Clark localized the stark difference in health dangers presented by influenza and COVID-19, comparing statistics during the state’s current flu season that started Sept. 1.There have been 57 hospitalizations for influenza and zero deaths since Sept. 1 in Oklahoma.COVID-19? There has been 7,472 hospitalizations and 958 deaths in the same period.“So if this doesn’t clarify that COVID-19 is different from flu, I’m not sure what will,” Clark said.She displayed a chart that shows flu hospitalizations the past three years in Oklahoma begins ramping up in December and peaks somewhere in late January to late February.Clark said we’ll see whether the trends hold true or if some of the mask mandates and distancing measures will help keep the curve of flu hospitalizations flatter than normal.This browser does not support the video element.

Please subscribe to keep readingCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeCancel anytimeWith records broken daily and the state on track for 8,000-plus new cases in daily COVID-19 reports starting next month, orders are needed “compelling Oklahomans to act differently,” federal officials warn.“The depth of viral spread across Oklahoma remains significant,”...

COVID-19 records of today will be dwarfed by January if Oklahoma does nothing, White House warns | State and Regional News | tulsaworld.com

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