Covid-19 in OKC (coronavirus)

[Pete]

^

There are plenty of people at universities who are not 18-22.

There are older grad students, people who work in admin and about 3,000 just on the academic staff at OU... All within a concentrated area.

OU employs almost 13,000 people in Norman alone; another 7,500 at the Health Sciences Center.

[jonny d]

^

There are plenty of people at universities who are not 18-22.

There are older grad students, people who work in admin and about 3,000 just on the academic staff at OU... All within a concentrated area.

A lot of staff at the colleges I am auditing are still working from home. Not that way at all schools, of course.

And yes, I added the caveat that most, not all, students are 18-22. But at universities, there are fewer non-normal students (attending right after high school) than at community colleges.

This is not defending how schools are handling COVID, at all. But learning is important, and a lot of students don't learn well online. So having that option is vital for their education, and with a year off, they may not go back to school. It really is a "damned if you do or damned if you don't" situation.

[Pete]

And yes, I added the caveat that most, not all, students are 18-22. But at universities, there are fewer non-normal students (attending right after high school) than at community colleges. .

Absolutely untrue. Full universities have tons of graduate students of all ages.

Of OU's 28,500 students, fully 6,500 are in graduate programs.


OCCC has a total of about 14,000 students and OSU-OKC only 7,000. And of course, none of those people are living on campus.

[jdizzle]

Absolutely untrue. Full universities have tons of graduate students of all ages.

Of OU's 28,500 students, fully 6,500 are in graduate programs.


OCCC has a total of about 14,000 students and OSU-OKC only 7,000. And of course, none of those people are living on campus.

So less than 25%, and quite a bit of those are in OKC near downtown.

OCCC is also about 85% online. Not sure about OSU-OKC.

Point being, the vast majority of people on most university campuses (not community colleges, since most don't have residence halls) are not dying, or really getting hospitalized (those under 30 or in good shape are at a minor risk of major complications.

[OKCRT]

So less than 25%, and quite a bit of those are in OKC near downtown.

OCCC is also about 85% online. Not sure about OSU-OKC.

Point being, the vast majority of people on most university campuses (not community colleges, since most don't have residence halls) are not dying, or really getting hospitalized (those under 30 or in good shape are at a minor risk of major complications.

This is why many folks wouldn't mind seeing a herd immunity happen. Just have to protect the older folks. But all these kids that get it and survive will be able to donate their plasma for the sick people. They can use the plasma plus other meds that work and that will hopefully hold things over til the vaccine is ready.

[soonerguru]

Most people on college campuses (not all, of course) will not be majorly affected by the virus (physically). Will some, yes. But 18-22 year olds are not who the virus is killing (only 300 involving Covid amongst college-aged people). College-age people are not suffering at the hands of Covid, for the most part. So leaving them on campus might be best. Sending them home to their 50-60 year-old parents may be the worst thing to happen.

Again, each death sucks, but college kids are safer amongst people their age, since the risk of them spreading it to a person who could very easily die from the disease is greatly limited.

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/c...ekly/index.htm

https://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/COVIDNet/COVID19_5.html

What about the faculty and staff? What about them?

OU was featured on tonight's ABC Newscast showing pics of all of the packed bars.

[jdizzle]

What about the faculty and staff? What about them?

OU was featured on tonight's ABC Newscast showing pics of all of the packed bars.

Again, most. I never said all.

And kids don't have much to worry about.

[dankrutka]

My department in our university does everything online right now. All classes, meetings, etc. I appreciate how they’ve handled it.

[soonerguru]

Again, most. I never said all.

And kids don't have much to worry about.

Pardon? I wasn't addressing you.

But, since you spoke up, I will point out that you are absolutely wrong about about people under 30 not having complications. You clearly didn't read the report about the football players developing heart problems. Those are some of the best conditioned athletes on earth.

I don't know why you insist on continuing to parrot disinformation on this forum.

[dankrutka]

Again, most. I never said all.

And kids don't have much to worry about.

Except infecting their far more susceptible parents or grandparents. Yeah, nothing to worry about. (How do people still not understand this a community problem, not an individual one?)

[OKCretro]

But, since you spoke up, I will point out that you are absolutely wrong about about people under 30 not having complications. You clearly didn't read the report about the football players developing heart problems. Those are some of the best conditioned athletes on earth.

I don't know why you insist on continuing to parrot disinformation on this forum.

you mean this one? where the doctor had to clarify his comments?

https://sports.yahoo.com/big-ten-cov...164111708.html

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...is/5710763002/

[Bunty]

So less than 25%, and quite a bit of those are in OKC near downtown.

OCCC is also about 85% online. Not sure about OSU-OKC.

Point being, the vast majority of people on most university campuses (not community colleges, since most don't have residence halls) are not dying, or really getting hospitalized (those under 30 or in good shape are at a minor risk of major complications.

Right. As a reflection of how true that is, Stillwater hospital only has 4 COVID patients.

[BG918]

Cleveland and Payne counties saw high case numbers today just below Oklahoma and Tulsa counties:

• Tulsa - 13742 (+185)
• Oklahoma - 13791 (+102)
• Cleveland - 4105 (+86)
• Payne - 1319 (+80)

Tulsa County likely has the most college students outside Cleveland and Payne counties. Between TU, ORU, OU-Tulsa, OSU-Tulsa, OSUHSC and NSU-Broken Arrow that is nearly 20k students not even counting TCC.

[Pete]

So less than 25%, and quite a bit of those are in OKC near downtown.

No. 6,500 graduate students in Norman. And 13,000 employees.


This argument is ridiculous. It started out by saying that the vast majority at college are 18-22 and that has been proven not be to be true.

Now, we'll move on to yet another false deflection by the same handful of people that have been doing it for months while 190,000 people have died.

[OKCretro]

The almighty one listed 7 states, Oklahoma was not one of them.

https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/antho...033011706.html

[jdizzle]

No. 6,500 graduate students in Norman. And 13,000 employees.


This argument is ridiculous. It started out by saying that the vast majority at college are 18-22 and that has been proven not be to be true.

Now, we'll move on to yet another false deflection by the same handful of people that have been doing it for months while 190,000 people have died.

https://educationdata.org/college-en...nt-statistics/ - in response to the bold (for students). And again, a lot of colleges are having employees work from home, so nowhere near that 13,000 are on campus at any one time.

What is your solution to college, just shut down until a vaccine? Go fully online, which doesn't benefit everyone (for a MULTITUDE of reasons). Most (more than 50%) of the people at the OU campus are under 30, and have a low to minuscule risk with Covid.

Of course #s will spike due to college. But are hospitalizations in college towns spiking? That is something I would like to see.

[Pete]

^

For the 1,000th time, it's not just the risk to the people who get the virus, it's the spread that comes from that.

The people on campus don't stay on campus. They go home to OKC and other communities; many leave Norman every day. There will be a mass exodus over Labor Day weekend, Fall Break and the holidays and beyond.

You can see cases and deaths in Oklahoma have risen in just the last 2-3 weeks since schools have reopened.


I'm not advocating for all virtual learning or anything else. Just refuting this complete nonsense that having thousands of people together at college or any other school isn't going to increase the spread of this deadly disease and that it doesn't matter if young people are infected.

And really, really tired of those who go to great lengths to try and minimize the fact we are still in the middle of an absolute catastrophe. No matter how many times they are proven wrong with the ridiculous "it's getting better" and "it will run its course" and "we should let everyone get it" rhetoric, there is always a new, inane argument while 1,000 people are dying every day in this country.

[jerrywall]

^ Exactly. My son is at OSU. Assuming the campus remains open, they'll be sending all the kids home at Thanksgiving break and doing online for the finals and such. That's a lot of kids being sent home to their communities with whatever illnesses they're currently carrying. Once my kids come home we'll all be quarantining AGAIN before being out among people, since my wife and I will be exposed. However, I have some pretty serious underlying conditions that put me at high risk, so I guess I'm just going with hope and prayers that I don't get sick.

[jdizzle]

^

For the 1,000th time, it's not just the risk to the people who get the virus, it's the spread that comes from that.

The people on campus don't stay on campus. They go home to OKC and other communities; many leave Norman every day. There will be a mass exodus over Labor Day weekend, Fall Break and the holidays and beyond.

You can see cases and deaths in Oklahoma have risen in just the last 2-3 weeks since schools have reopened.


I'm not advocating for all virtual learning or anything else. Just refuting this complete nonsense that having thousands of people together at college or any other school isn't going to increase the spread of this deadly disease and that it doesn't matter if young people are infected.

And really, really tired of those who go to great lengths to try and minimize the fact we are still in the middle of an absolute catastrophe. No matter how many times they are proven wrong with the ridiculous "it's getting better" and "it will run its course" and "we should let everyone get it" rhetoric, there is always a new, inane argument while 1,000 people are dying every day in this country.

I see your point. I never said that spread would stop on campuses. Or if I did, that was never my intent, and my wording was bad. I just think there is no good solution to this, other than a full lockdown of college areas, and that isn't happening. So yes, college will lead to spikes. But what solutions are there? College students are going to party. Which i know is what you were getting at. It goes back to the top - and to avoid getting political, I will go no further, as the board has covered it ad nauseum in other threads.

[Pete]

There are no easy solutions to any of this but attempts to minimize the severity of this situation infuriate me.

Six months in, we still have 1,000 people a day dying in the U.S., which is largely because people aren't taking things seriously or spending all their time trying argue to this away.

We should have dealt with this a long time ago and be well on the road to brighter days, yet we are mired in this mess that at best has leveled off at completely unacceptable levels. And I fully expect things to start trending up again.


I am a positive person but beyond the health consequences, we are facing economic armageddon. It has just been temporarily delayed and people are getting distracted by the stock markets while virtually every small and medium sized business is teetering on the edge of collapse.

Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

[Pete]

1,013 new cases today.

7-day rolling average is now 826 cases/day, the highest it's been in a month and an increase of almost 200 in just a week.


11 more reported deaths.

[oklip955]

Not all college students are young. Lots of older folks going back to school to learn something new. I am 61 yo and retired. I am working on a theology degree. Its an off campus program through a university in Kansas. We went to Zoom in the spring and now everyone just wants to stay on Zoom. Good thing. Point I am making is even with the larger schools and to an extend the smaller colleges and universities, get older people as students who want to advance their education either to take a better position or just for the fun of learning something new. Are we just part of the herd immunity even if we are in our 50s, 60's or beyond, or are we just collateral damage?

[Bill Robertson]

This is on a report from OSDH today.

On Tuesday, Sept. 8, we will begin a transition in our data collection and reporting system that includes combining “confirmed” and “probable” cases. This will advance OSDH’s mission to deliver public data that best represents the current, active presence of COVID-19 in Oklahoma.

It says nothing about back data but a memo posted on Oklahoma Source warning county commissioners to be ready for lots of questions states that the data “may” go back to March. Next week could be interesting. The memo also says that the method of determining positivity is changing. Doesn’t matter to me since I pay no attention to positivity but I know a lot of people do.

[OKCRT]

Not all college students are young. Lots of older folks going back to school to learn something new. I am 61 yo and retired. I am working on a theology degree. Its an off campus program through a university in Kansas. We went to Zoom in the spring and now everyone just wants to stay on Zoom. Good thing. Point I am making is even with the larger schools and to an extend the smaller colleges and universities, get older people as students who want to advance their education either to take a better position or just for the fun of learning something new. Are we just part of the herd immunity even if we are in our 50s, 60's or beyond, or are we just collateral damage?

With all the people that have had the covid they should have good plasma that can be used on high risk folks. Are they doing any programs like that? If not, why not? They should have enough good plasma donors to treat millions of high risk folks I would think.

[d-usa]

https://oklahoman.com/article/567084...for-first-time