Covid-19 in OKC (coronavirus)

[jccouger]

3,656 new cases today; 7-day rolling average 3,435 an all-time high.

43 additional deaths reported, a single-day record. 7-day rolling average 22.1.

Hospitalizations are 1,728 (-31).

ICU is 449 (-32).

43 deaths in a day & still an overwhelming opinion of this all being faked and manipulated by the media.

Our state has no hope.

[Bill Robertson]

43 deaths in a day & still an overwhelming opinion of this all being faked and manipulated by the media.

Our state has no hope.

True. I just breezed through the comments on the OKC GOV FB page about Holt's statements today. Breeze is all I could stand because there are just so many selfish, uncaring people out there.

[PoliSciGuy]

Sobering thread from Mayor Holt:

https://twitter.com/davidfholt/statu...41895111217158

The kicker:

And so my major takeaway today is this. I speak to you two days before Christmas, amidst record highs in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. ... And I say to you, with everything I have, from the bottom of my heart, as your mayor, as someone who loves this city deeply, as someone who loves you, because you are my brother and you are my sister. Please, do not bring death or illness upon yourself and those you love. ... Take precautions this week. Don’t be in extended, close, indoor contact with people outside your household without distance and without a mask. Listen, really listen, to these stories you have heard. They are real. They have occurred across our community.

[Bill Robertson]

Sobering thread from Mayor Holt:

https://twitter.com/davidfholt/statu...41895111217158

The kicker:

That speech is what I was referring to a couple posts ago that prompted pages of "he's fear mongering, he's a communist, etc." comments on FB that literally made me want to puke. My faith in my fellow man is fading quickly. I believe he's absolutely sincere. And correct.

[Outhunder]

That speech is what I was referring to a couple posts ago that prompted pages of "he's fear mongering, he's a communist, etc." comments on FB that literally made me want to puke. My faith in my fellow man is fading quickly. I believe he's absolutely sincere. And correct.

Exactly how I feel. I’ve learned a lot about some of my coworkers, friends, and family the last 10 months. And when I say some I don’t mean all, but more than I ever expected. It comes down to simply not caring about anyone, including themselves. I just don’t get it.

[Pete]

It's *all* political and due to blindly following leaders who are telling them with the aid of aligned media: 1) it's all fake or at least wildly exaggerated; 2) masks and restrictions don't work; and 3) this is about personal freedom and constitutional rights.

It's just that simple and this tone was set from the outset.

This country has faced all types of crises and have rallied together to move forward. Look at the universal response to 9/11 and how no one uttered a peep when there were all types of new travel restrictions and safety measures. Many, many other examples. This is all down to leadership and nothing else.

I have no doubt that history will look back at the people involved in this and judge them very, very harshly along with those who openly supported them.

[PoliSciGuy]

That speech is what I was referring to a couple posts ago that prompted pages of "he's fear mongering, he's a communist, etc." comments on FB that literally made me want to puke. My faith in my fellow man is fading quickly. I believe he's absolutely sincere. And correct.

Yeah he has been consistent and clear on messaging from the get-go. I absolutely hear you about the decline in faith in others, I've seen myself grow more cynical over the last few months.

Though in a glimmer of good news, more and more Oklahomans are expressing a desire to take the vaccine

https://twitter.com/KOCODillon/statu...48920897548288

[Pete]

If you think about it, the vaccine decision is completely opposite that of wearing a mask...

With the vaccine, it's all about protecting yourself. If you don't take it, you are almost inviting infection.

Masks are the other extreme: it's all about protecting others.

Since so many people are saying they won't take the inoculation, it goes to show how people blindly follow silly ideas even when it works against them in a legitimately dangerous way.

[FighttheGoodFight]

HHS report out has Oklahoma with a 21.6% positivity rate in testing over the last week. That is the highest in the nation.

[soonerguru]

It definitely requires a second dose. Soonerguru must be confusing it with the J&J vaccine, which is still in clinical trials.

Sorry about the slip. My physician didn't correct me when I said the same thing to him this week. I guess the biggest advantage with Moderna's is it doesn't require the ridiculously low subzero temperatures for storage.

[Pete]

3,277 new cases today; 7-day rolling average a record 3,478.

45 more deaths, another record as is the 7-day rolling average of 26.3.

Hospitalizations are 1,836 (+108); you guessed it, another record.

ICU is 462 (+13); down slightly from the record of 481 2 days ago.


PLEASE be careful over the holiday!! It won't be much longer until we can all get vaccinated and you don't want to get sick or get your loved ones sick when we are so close to getting this under control.

[catch22]

pete, does the state publish vaccination distribution numbers? Would be interesting to have that data as well as it ramps up.

[Soonerinfiniti]

Any reason why the OK Health Dept. has not updated their vaccines administered numbers since 12/18? News9 said Oklahoma might be in Phase 2 (which would include teachers and over 65) next week. I would love to know how many vaccine doses have been given.

[PoliSciGuy]

Yeah those numbers are all the more meaningful now that we’re in a race against time with the more communicable British strain

[TheTravellers]

More details on the mutated strain (that's probably already here in the USA, and might or might not be more communicable - no agreement on that part yet):

The U.K. Coronavirus Mutation Is Worrying but Not Terrifying

[C_M_25]

More details on the mutated strain (that's probably already here in the USA, and might or might not be more communicable - no agreement on that part yet):

The U.K. Coronavirus Mutation Is Worrying but Not Terrifying

There is no evidence (yet) that this is here so be careful with statements like that.

I’m hoping that we’re just seeing a “founder effect” with this new variant. Either that, or perhaps a super spreader event. Regardless, it’s pretty wild to see 23 (?) mutations all at the same time.

Also, remember that there is a huge difference between 70% more transmissible and 70x’s more transmissible. Keep in mind too that the current variant spreading in the US came around earlier this year. It was thought to be significantly more transmissible but turned out not all that different than the original variant.

[BDP]

Regardless, it’s pretty wild to see 23 (?) mutations all at the same time.

It's really not that wild. With every infection it has a chance to mutate. We're almost to 80 million infections world wide. It would be weird to not see significant mutations at this point. We've actually been lucky, as far as that goes.

[C_M_25]

It's really not that wild. With every infection it has a chance to mutate. We're almost to 80 million infections world wide. It would be weird to not see significant mutations at this point. We've actually been lucky, as far as that goes.

I think you misunderstood. 23 mutations over the year or a couple of years is no big deal. This variant had that many mutations all at once (at least, that is what they’re thinking). That means this virus was in a person for a long enough time to mutate that much and then spread from there....if the mutations popped up overnight. Given long-haul covid patients along with immunosuppressed people out there, this seems reasonable albeit scary.

[SEMIweather]

It seems reasonable to me. Add it to the list of reasons why just letting things rip is very dumb, especially now that we're within shouting distance of mass vaccinations.

[silvergrove]

I think you misunderstood. 23 mutations over the year or a couple of years is no big deal. This variant had that many mutations all at once (at least, that is what they’re thinking). That means this virus was in a person for a long enough time to mutate that much and then spread from there....if the mutations popped up overnight. Given long-haul covid patients along with immunosuppressed people out there, this seems reasonable albeit scary.

I actually analyze and determine the genome of the virus for a living. That's a bit off the mark. The virus responsible for COVID-19 accumulates about ~23.6 mutations a year. So walking through this, if you imagine a virus at the beginning of the year and if you trace one of its descendants at the end of the year, a virus in December will have about 24 mutations in difference with the one at the beginning.

Or another way of looking at it, let's imagine you have a document. You ask an office to take that document and make 10 copies on a document scanner, each distributed to another office with the same instructions. Sometimes, a mistake happens like maybe a fingerprint smudge or someone spilled a bit of coffee on a corner. Subsequent copies will keep that mistake, but your copied document are still the same document as the original one (in essence). More mistakes will accumulate over time and at the end of the year, that document might have about 24 smudges when compared to the original document. But remember, you asked each office to make 10 copies. One document at the end of the year can have different smudges than another document from another office at the end of the year. Maybe the document that got the corner coffee stain got sent to offices in Florida while the palm print copies went to North Dakota, and the health scientists noticed that in April. Then in November, someone looking at a copied document with a cigarette burn, a pen scribble, and a corner coffee stain can make an educated guess that this particular document is from the Florida lineage.

Most mutations in the virus do nothing to it, kind of like an ink smudge in the corner of the document (still legible). Other mutations are fatal to the virus, imagine if someone accidentally poured coffee all over the entire page and its unusable (these don't get passed on). Finally, some mutations might improve the virus' ability to spread faster, sort of like removing extra blank pages in the document so you speed up the document copying.

The virus doesn't have to stay in a person long to mutate that much, it can simply jump to the next person and keep whatever mutations it has accumulated before infecting more downstream. Every new person it infects, it gives it a chance to make more copies that maybe a few copies will accumulate a new mutation. Mutations can occur randomly and spontaneously, but it will not be all in an instant.

[Bill Robertson]

^ I just can't read all the technical and medical papers and not get lost. This is a good, straight forward explanation of mutations.
So it's not like the England mutation is the only one. I already thought I remembered a Houston area? mutation a few months ago that was "much more contagious" and was "overtaking the original virus" and nothing ever became of it.
This thing is going to play out like it plays out. We just need to ride it until enough people are vaccinated for the spread to slow down.

[Bill Robertson]

Merry Christmas everyone!!!
We have more to look forward to than I thought we might at this point in time and I am truly thankful!

[Pete]

3,955 new cases today but that also includes Christmas. 7-day rolling average now 2,949.

29 additional deaths (including Christmas Day); 7-day rolling average now 24.0.


Hospitalization will not be updated until Monday night.

[d-usa]

I think the 3,955 are only for Christmas, and tomorrow will include Saturday and Sunday totals together. Unless I misread something.

[Pete]

^

Thanks for the info.