Just announced within the past hour. Most of the schools are on Spring Break this week, so for now it's a two week closure and the school year will be extended two weeks. And of course, plans are being made to continue free meals. In OKC EVERY public school student gets free meals, regardless of family income. That change was made a couple of years ago to eliminate the "social stigma" that the poor kids were supposedly suffering.
The Governor declared a State Emergency last night and the OKC Mayor has also declared a State of Emergency. My 92 year old MIL is in an Assisted Care Center and late this morning the Oklahoma County association of elderly care homes decided to cut off visitation.
The current President of the association owns the care center my MIL is in and my wife is on really good terms with him. My wife needed to take my MIL a small care package (TWO rolls of TP, ONE bottle of hand sanitizer, and two boxes of Kleenex) and had called ahead right before the visitor ban was announced. In the 15 minutes it took for her to drive to the home the decision had been announced, but because she had called ahead and the home owner had just walked in the door and greeted her, they let my wife see her mom. She was the LAST visitor allowed in before the shutdown.
Relatives will be able to drop off supplies for the residents in the front lobby, but won't be allowed past that point. Also, the lunch room has been closed and all meals (they have a damned good chef - wife and I eat lunch with my MIL several times a month) will be taken to the resdidnets in their rooms.
My MIL's mood can be quite volatile on occasion, but she does have a TV in her room and likes to watch Fox News and local news so she knows what's going on. My wife says she is taking it quite well and has not panicked in the least. But her mom said she will greatly miss meals with her friends in the dining room. Social interaction between the residents is normally STRONGLY encouraged at the care center because old and feeble people are very much prone to depression. But that will out of the question for awhile.
OK has gone from four cases to ten in just two days, with 29 test pending. There was a SEVERE lack of testing kits until now, so state officials are bracing for a huge uptick in positives now that testing is becoming more widespread. Also, patient #10 was the FIRST one that had not traveled outside the state, so the "community exposure" has begun.
Those posters who are apparently downplaying the seriousness of the situation should consider that the low number of cases in MOST states has more to do with lack of testing than it does lack of sick people who have contracted the virus. As test kits become readily available and "community exposure" takes hold expect the number of cases to soar.
The Governor declared a State Emergency last night and the OKC Mayor has also declared a State of Emergency. My 92 year old MIL is in an Assisted Care Center and late this morning the Oklahoma County association of elderly care homes decided to cut off visitation.
The current President of the association owns the care center my MIL is in and my wife is on really good terms with him. My wife needed to take my MIL a small care package (TWO rolls of TP, ONE bottle of hand sanitizer, and two boxes of Kleenex) and had called ahead right before the visitor ban was announced. In the 15 minutes it took for her to drive to the home the decision had been announced, but because she had called ahead and the home owner had just walked in the door and greeted her, they let my wife see her mom. She was the LAST visitor allowed in before the shutdown.
Relatives will be able to drop off supplies for the residents in the front lobby, but won't be allowed past that point. Also, the lunch room has been closed and all meals (they have a damned good chef - wife and I eat lunch with my MIL several times a month) will be taken to the resdidnets in their rooms.
My MIL's mood can be quite volatile on occasion, but she does have a TV in her room and likes to watch Fox News and local news so she knows what's going on. My wife says she is taking it quite well and has not panicked in the least. But her mom said she will greatly miss meals with her friends in the dining room. Social interaction between the residents is normally STRONGLY encouraged at the care center because old and feeble people are very much prone to depression. But that will out of the question for awhile.
OK has gone from four cases to ten in just two days, with 29 test pending. There was a SEVERE lack of testing kits until now, so state officials are bracing for a huge uptick in positives now that testing is becoming more widespread. Also, patient #10 was the FIRST one that had not traveled outside the state, so the "community exposure" has begun.
Those posters who are apparently downplaying the seriousness of the situation should consider that the low number of cases in MOST states has more to do with lack of testing than it does lack of sick people who have contracted the virus. As test kits become readily available and "community exposure" takes hold expect the number of cases to soar.