Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Coronavirus in rural America (Part XCVIII): Rural pressure on Oklahoma's urban hospitals

This is precisely what public health folks have been predicting for months.  The story comes from William Crum writing for The Oklahoman, based in Oklahoma City:

No ICU beds were available Tuesday morning in Oklahoma City as COVID-19 cases surge, a central Oklahoma regional health system executive told the city council.

The council got a pandemic update as it considered a mask ordinance extension, the second since the ordinance was adopted July 17.

The council agreed on a 7-1 vote to extend the mask mandate to Dec. 7.

Pressure on Oklahoma City's health system currently is due primarily to a nursing shortage as daily new COVID-19 cases increase, and hospitalizations continue trending upward.

The regional health executive said additional pressure was exerted by patient transfers in from rural areas where people wearing masks “are laughed at.”

Emphasis is mine. 

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