Oklahoma Next Possible Hot Spot For Coronavirus Outbreak, Experts Say

Wednesday, April 1st 2020, 2:09 pm

By: Dana Hertneky

Some experts are saying Oklahoma is the next hot spot for a coronavirus outbreak. An article on Politico.com names Oklahoma one of three states where the coronavirus is intensifying.

“I mean, I don’t know what the technical definition of hot spot is but we’ve been growing in numbers both in cases and deaths over the past week,” said Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt.

That’s in Oklahoma City where Mayor Holt took early and aggressive measures to slow the spread of the virus. Bars and restaurants have been closed for almost two weeks, non-essential businesses have been shut down for a week.

According to the article, former acting CMS chief Andy Slavitt said the bigger concern is likely smaller rural areas where a lack of testing has lured residents into a false sense of security.

“There’s a perfect storm I worry about in certain states where commonality is that they have low testing and low social distancing guidelines,” Slavitt is quoted as saying.

Mayor Holt agrees, pointing to a lack of restrictions in areas just 100 miles from the city.

“It’s just spreading in those communities and they probably don’t have access to healthcare and they aren’t getting the same tests and I’m afraid it’s going to hit those communities very hard and we live in the same ecosystem,” said Mayor Holt.

The Mayor said he commends Governor Stitt’s recent action to close all non-essential businesses statewide Wednesday saying it makes everyone safer.

Still, even with Oklahoma City’s restrictions the number of cases continues to rise. Mayor Holt said positive cases in Oklahoma City have doubled and deaths have tripled since Friday.

As the mayor of LA told Vanity Fair Oklahoma City is on pace to be the next LA.

“We are where they were per capita on Friday. If people think it’s really bad in LA they need to understand it’s bad here just two days behind,” said Mayor Holt.