Full Panel Discussion: Oklahoma health leaders join KOCO 5 to answer questions about COVID-19, vaccine
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Updated: 7:00 PM CST Mar 9, 2021
KOCO Staff
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Updated: 7:00 PM CST Mar 9, 2021
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Wow. What a year. Hey, I'm having Onstott. Yes, tonight is about looking back. But it is also about looking ahead. How do we return to normal life? Where are we on the vaccine? What are some of the answers that to the question that you've been asking. So we've assembled a wonderful team of doctors, people who you've been seeing here on Ko cio throughout the pandemic. Answering your questions. Let's go out and just introduce them. Dr. Dale Brattskar with ou Health Dr Chad Smith below him from from Mercy Hospital in the upper right here. Behind me is Dr David Chancel with integrity and in the bottom. Right behind me here is Doctor Steven Prescott. Gentlemen, thank you so much. Uh, Dr Prescott with O m r f the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. Thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it. Let me just start with a with a big sweeping question and I want you all just to jump in here. But Dr Prescott, I'll start with you. Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Uh, well, Evan, I think you know my sense of optimism. I'm gonna say yes. Uh, then Of course, I had to throw that in the caveat, saying, I hope it's not the headline of a train, but but, yes, I do think, uh, that things are getting better. Uh, sometimes facetiously say, You know, all pandemics end, but we want this one to end in a better way than many of them do. Uh and so I am very optimistic about our optimistic, our chances of getting the population immunized to a level where we can achieve that herd immunity. So I think if we stay focused on that, I think we'll get there by sometime later this year. Uh, this day, I would agree with that. The the number of cases in Oklahoma have dropped 84% since mid January, when we had the peak after the holiday. So case cancer, far down. And one of the statistics I look at that really has me intrigued is the percent of tests are coming back positive. So far this week, it's about 3%. We were at 19% the last week in December, so that tells me there's less community spread of the virus right now, and furthermore, we are seeing a decrease in the hospitalizations, um, over the past several weeks to months and looking at analytical projections that many of us have access to, those projections are also showing that quote unquote light at the end of the tunnel. Doctor chances Are you seeing it as well? Absolutely. I think you know, we are starting to see the numbers come down in the hospital. Obviously, like like Chad, I have access to our numbers in the integral system. So but even just the feel on the floors, I still see patients in the hospital. So you just feel on the floors. You can just kind of tell. It's just, uh, uh, there's just not as many patients there, and that's great. And then the the data that Dale so kindly provides to all of us, uh, that he's really able to get back in the numbers behind that, uh, is just confirming what we feel. Well, great. I like starting with the optimism, and we're gonna answer some questions as we continue to move on. We are back with these gentlemen here in just a little bit